oster City, Calif., and Mechelen, Belgium, December 15, 2020, 22.15 CET; regulated information – Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) and Galapagos NV (Euronext & Nasdaq: GLPG) today announced that the companies have agreed to amend their existing arrangement for the commercialization and development of Jyseleca (filgotinib). This announcement follows a Type A meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to discuss the points raised in the Complete Response Letter (CRL) related to the New Drug Application (NDA) for filgotinib in the treatment of RA.
Based on the feedback received from the FDA during the NDA review process and in the Type A meeting, Gilead will not pursue FDA approval of filgotinib for RA. While both Gilead and Galapagos continue to believe in the clinical profile of the 200 mg dose, Gilead has concluded that this dose is required to be competitive in RA in the United States and that the 200 mg dose is unlikely to achieve approval for RA in the U.S. without conducting substantial additional clinical studies.
Under the new arrangement between the companies, Galapagos will assume sole responsibility in Europe for filgotinib in RA, where 200 mg and 100 mg doses are approved for the treatment of moderate to severe RA, and in all future indications. Galapagos will receive payments from Gilead in connection with changes in responsibility for the commercialization and development of filgotinib in Europe and Gilead will receive royalties from European sales of filgotinib. This is an acceleration of the commercial strategy in place for products under the separate ten-year research and development collaboration between the companies, where Galapagos is also responsible for European commercialization.
Through a phased transition including the transfer of filgotinib’s marketing authorization to Galapagos, the majority of activities supporting filgotinib in Europe are expected to be assumed by Galapagos by the end of 2021. Under the new operating model, Gilead will retain commercial rights and remain marketing authorization holder for filgotinib outside of Europe, including in Japan where filgotinib has recently been approved, and is co-marketed with Eisai.