Mechelen,  Belgium; 15 January  2010 - Galapagos  NV (Euronext:  GLPG) announced
today  that it has reached milestones in  both of its global strategic alliances
with  an  affiliate  of  Merck  &  Co.,  Inc  (Merck).  The achievement of these
milestones  has entitled Galapagos  to receive an  aggregate payment of EUR 3.6
million from Merck.

In  the alliances, initiated in January and April 2009, Galapagos is responsible
for  the discovery and pre-clinical development  of new small molecule candidate
drugs  based on  novel Galapagos  targets in  metabolic disease and inflammatory
disease.   Under the  terms of  the alliances,  Galapagos is eligible to receive
discovery,  development and regulatory milestone payments that could potentially
exceed  EUR 590 million total  for multiple products,  as well as specific sales
milestones  and royalties upon commercialization of  any products covered in the
agreements.   Together  with  upfront  fees  of  EUR  4.0 million, Galapagos has
received a total of EUR 7.6 million from Merck.

"Less than one year after initiating these alliances with Merck, we have met the
first  milestones, ahead  of schedule.   Total payments  from all  our alliances
since  June 2006 now exceed  EUR 100 million, underscoring  the viability of the
Company's  alliance strategy and business model going forward," said Onno van de
Stolpe, CEO of Galapagos.


About Galapagos' metabolic disease alliance with Merck
In  January 2009, Galapagos  announced an  alliance with  Merck in  diabetes and
obesity;  this agreement was expanded in October 2009 to include small candidate
drugs  for atherosclerosis.   The alliance  makes use  of Galapagos' proprietary
SilenceSelect(®)  target discovery platform for identification of novel targets.
Galapagos  is responsible for the discovery  and pre-clinical development of new
small  molecule  candidate  drugs  based  on  novel  Galapagos  targets.   After
validation,  targets will be selected by  a joint steering committee and entered
into  screening and chemistry by Galapagos.  Merck  has the option to acquire an
exclusive  license to each candidate drug, and  upon exercise of such an option,
Merck  will  be  responsible  for  the  development and commercialization of the
candidate  drug.  Galapagos may  execute Phase I  clinical studies and will have
the right to further develop and commercialize certain compounds for which Merck
does  not  exercise  its  exclusive  option.   Under  the  terms of the expanded
metabolic  alliance  agreement,  Galapagos  is  eligible  to  receive  research,
regulatory  and sales milestone  payments that may  total in excess  of EUR 400
million.   In   addition   Galapagos  is  eligible  to  receive  royalties  upon
commercialization of any products covered under the agreement.


About Galapagos' inflammatory disease alliance with Merck
Announced  in April  2009, the inflammatory  disease alliance  also makes use of
Galapagos'   proprietary   SilenceSelect(®)   target   discovery   platform  for
identification  of novel  targets.  Alliance  structure, process,  and roles are
similar  to the  metabolic disease  alliance.  Galapagos  is eligible to receive
discovery,  development and regulatory milestone payments that could potentially
exceed  EUR 192 million total  for multiple products,  as well as specific sales
milestones  and royalties upon  commercialization of any  products covered under
the inflammatory alliance agreement.


About Galapagos
Galapagos   <http://www.glpg.com/>  (Euronext:  GLPG;  OTC:  GLPYY)  is  a  drug
discovery and development company with small molecule programs in bone and joint
diseases, bone metastasis, cachexia, anti-infectives and metabolic diseases.  It
has  established risk sharing alliances with GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly, Janssen
Pharmaceutica, Merck & Co., Inc. and Roche.  Through an alliance with MorphoSys,
Galapagos is also developing new antibody therapies in bone and joint diseases.
Its  division BioFocus offers a full  suite of target-to-drug discovery products
and services to pharmaceutical and biotech companies and to patient foundations,
encompassing  target  discovery  and  validation,  screening  and drug discovery
through  to delivery of  pre-clinical candidates.  Galapagos  has more than 500
employees  and operates facilities in six countries, with global headquarters in
Mechelen, Belgium.  More info at: www.glpg.com <http://www.glpg.com/>


CONTACT

Galapagos NV
Elizabeth Goodwin, Director Investor Relations
Tel: +31 6 2291 6240
ir@glpg.com 



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"expects,"  "intends,"  "plans,"  "seeks,"  "estimates," "may," "will," "could,"
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