Our story

What started in 1999 with a handful of employees and a dream to pioneer for patients, crystalized into a biotechnology company committed to improving the lives of people with severe diseases.

Timeline

2026

June

Together with Gilead Sciences, Lakefront announced the successful completion of the previously announced acquisition of Ouro Medicines to advance T cell engager therapies for autoimmune diseases. The acquisition adds gamgertamig (OM336), a clinical-stage BCMAxCD3 T cell engager and will be the foundation of Lakefront’s clinical development pipeline. Gamgertamig is designed to enable rapid and deep plasma cell and B cell depletion following a limited subcutaneously administered treatment course with the potential to induce durable disease control in serious antibody-mediated orphan diseases including autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) and immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). Gamgertamig has been granted both Fast Track and Orphan Drug Designation by the U.S. FDA for the treatment of AIHA and ITP and is expected to enter registrational studies as early as 2027. Lakefront has also in-licensed a preclinical portfolio of three additional autoimmune focused programs originally from Ouro with an opt-in for Gilead for a 50/50 profit split post clinical proof-of-concept for $75 million per program.

May

Henry Gosebruch was appointed as CEO of Galapagos, succeeding Dr. Paul Stoffels.

April

To reflect our new direction to concentrate on transformational business development, shareholders approved changing the Company name from Galapagos NV to Lakefront Biotherapeutics™ NV. The new name signals a forward-looking identity grounded in clarity, discipline, and ambition, and reflects the Company’s commitment to building a focused portfolio of breakthrough opportunities for patients while creating long-term value for stakeholders.

January

The Board announced in January 2026 its decision to initiate the wind-down of the Company’s cell therapy activities. This step marks the transition from strategic evaluation to execution and is intended to enhance operational efficiency while enabling Galapagos to focus its resources on building a pipeline of novel therapeutics through strategic business development transactions, under the leadership of its new management team

2025

October

Galapagos announces its intention to wind down its cell therapy business and pursue new transformational business development transactions with its available cash resources. The intention to wind down follows a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives, including a potential divestiture. The plan would enable the Company to enhance operational efficiencies and focus on utilizing its available cash to execute its strategy of building a pipeline of novel therapeutics through strategic business development transactions under the leadership of its new management team. This intention is subject to the conclusion of consultations with works councils in Belgium and the Netherlands, during which Galapagos will continue to operate the business. Galapagos would consider any viable proposal to acquire all, or part of the cell therapy business, if such a proposal emerges during the wind down process.

May

Galapagos announces strategic update on proposed separation, executive leadership transition and board changes. It will re-evaluate the implementation of the previously announced separation following regulatory and market developments and explore all strategic alternatives for its existing businesses, including cell therapy, with a focus on maximizing resources available for transformative business development transactions.

January

Galapagos declared its intent to separate into two publicly traded entities: Galapagos, which would continue to advance its global cell therapy leadership in addressing high unmet medical needs in oncology, and a newly to be formed company (“SpinCo”), which would focus on building a pipeline of innovative medicines through transformational transactions.

2024

August

Galapagos announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared Galapagos’ Investigational New Drug (IND) application for ATALANTA-1, a Phase 1/2 multicenter study evaluating the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of GLPG5101 in patients with relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (R/R NHL).

January

Galapagos completes the transaction to transfer Jyseleca® business to Alfasigma. It marks a significant milestone in Galapagos’ transformation into an innovative biotechnology company with a best-in-class research and development pipeline aimed at addressing high unmet patient needs in immunology and oncology.

2022

June

Galapagos announced the acquisition of CellPoint and AboundBio, propelling Galapagos into next-generation cell therapy while significantly broadening its portfolio and capabilities. With CellPoint and AboundBio, Galapagos gained access to a scalable, decentralized and automated point-of-care cell therapy supply model, a clinical pipeline in advanced blood cancers as well as a human antibody-based therapeutics platform. The acquisition of both companies represented a first key step in the company’s strategic transformation to accelerate and diversify Galapagos’ pipeline, expanding into oncology, CAR-T and biologics.

January

Galapagos appoints Paul Stoffels as Chief Executive Officer. Paul takes over from Onno van de Stolpe, founder and CEO of Galapagos.

2021

December

Galapagos takes full ownership of the manufacturing and commercialization of Jyseleca® in Europe and became Marketing Authorization Holder (MAH) in 27 European countries, Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein. In Central and Eastern Europe, Portugal, Greece and the Baltic countries, Galapagos’ partner Sobi is responsible for the distribution and commercialization.

November

The European Commission and Great Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency approve Jyseleca® for the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC), followed by an approval by the Japanese authorities in 2022.

2020

Jyseleca® is granted marketing authorization for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the European Union, Great Britain and Japan, marking Galapagos’ transition into a commercial-stage biotech.