Galapagos NV announced it has initiated a Phase 2 Proof-of-Concept study in ulcerative colitis with GPR84 inhibitor GLPG1205, a potential novel treatment for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. GLPG1205 arises from Galapagos' target discovery platform and is fully proprietary to Galapagos. GLPG1205 ('1205) inhibits GPR84, a novel mechanism of action developed by Galapagos for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD).

Galapagos has shown that GPR84 plays a key role in IBD and that '1205 is a selective inhibitor of GPR84 and very effective in pre-clinical models for IBD. In Phase 1 studies, '1205 showed good safety, full blockage of GPR84, and favorable drug-like properties. The clinical Proof-of-Concept Phase 2 trial for '1205 will involve approximately 60 patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis.

The aim is to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability and pharmacokinetics of '1205, and to explore the effects of '1205 on selected biomarkers in this patient population.