Letter from the CEO
Dear Shareholder,
2025 was a pivotal year for Galapagos – one where our leadership team took decisive action to chart a new strategic course for the Company. In January 2025, the Board announced its intention to separate Galapagos into two publicly traded companies. As the year progressed, however, evolving market dynamics and feedback from market regulators prompted a reassessment of this separation plan.
Against this backdrop, I was asked in May 2025 to take over as Chief Executive Officer with a mandate to evaluate strategic alternatives for our existing businesses, including cell therapy. Together with our new senior leadership team, we moved quickly to advance the transformation of our Company, with the goal of better positioning us for long-term value creation. We believe we are off to a great start in our transformation journey, and I am excited about what the future holds.
Navigating Strategic Change and Exiting Cell Therapy
Following the decision not to pursue the proposed separation, the Board, together with management and external financial and legal advisors, undertook an extensive and structured process to explore potential strategic and financial transactions for the cell therapy business. While this process generated interest and resulted in a limited number of non-binding proposals, ultimately no transaction emerged with financing that would reasonably support the long-term sustainability of the business. Following a thorough evaluation of all available alternatives and taking into account the capital intensity, development timelines, competitive landscape and likely risk-adjusted returns associated with cell therapy, the Board concluded that continuing to allocate significant resources to this area was not in the best interests of patients, shareholders and our other stakeholders.
Consequently, in October 2025, we announced our intention to wind down the cell therapy business, and following completion of the required works council processes in Belgium and the Netherlands, the Board decided to initiate the wind-down in January of this year. This course of action in no way reflects the scientific excellence or commitment of our teams, but rather a disciplined assessment of where our capital and capabilities can create the greatest long-term value.
With this comprehensive strategic review concluded and the wind-down underway, we are now fully focused on executing a new strategy developed by leadership to deliver value through disciplined, transformative business development in high unmet need areas.
New Strategic Focus
The new Galapagos is focused on building a value-driven pipeline through targeted acquisitions, partnerships, and licensing transactions, with an initial emphasis on oncology, and immunology and inflammation programs that have compelling human proof-of-concept data, clear development pathways, and realistic routes to commercialization. Our objective is not incremental rebuilding, but rather a fundamental reshaping of the Company around assets we believe are capable of delivering meaningful patient impact and sustainable shareholder returns.
We are well equipped for this next phase. With €3.0 billion in cash at year-end 2025 and our unique partnership with Gilead, we can pursue clinically de-risked opportunities in areas where our differentiated capabilities provide a clear competitive advantage. We intend to execute with discipline while prioritizing opportunities that can generate durable, long-term value.
Our Path Forward
We have been deliberate in assembling the team to execute this strategic vision. Over the past year, we added significant depth with the appointments of Aaron Cox as Chief Financial Officer, Fred Blakeslee as General Counsel, Sooin Kwon as Chief Business Officer, Dan Grossman as Chief Strategy Officer, and Tania Philipp as Chief Human Resource Officer. They each bring world-class business development expertise and a shared mission of leveraging Galapagos’ unique position to create significant shareholder value. Collectively, our team has executed hundreds of transactions in the life sciences sector and is working well together with the goal of creating value for our shareholders. Our deal funnel is active and expanding, but we remain patient and disciplined, knowing that the cost of the wrong deal far exceeds the cost of waiting for the right one.
The road ahead will not be linear, and we recognize the challenges of building momentum in today’s biotech landscape. However, we now have a clear mandate, a simplified structure, and the financial strength to act decisively when opportunities arise. Our focus remains unwavering: execution, capital stewardship, value creation and patient impact.
Evolving Our Identity
While Galapagos has a proud history, the past several years have been challenging, shaping perceptions among both external and internal stakeholders. A new name and brand can signal a fresh start and reflect the strategic transformation now underway. It represents an opportunity to move forward with confidence, building on our strengths and focusing on future growth under a new leadership team and strategy.
To reflect this evolution, we propose changing our name from Galapagos NV to Lakefront Biotherapeutics NV. The Lakefront Biotherapeutics name represents the attractive opportunity in front of us and also provides a brand name that captures what we are aiming to accomplish for patients – the serenity of a lakefront, a place to spend time with family and loved ones or to reflect alone. Simply put: enhanced quality of life and a meaningfully positive impact.
Shareholders will be invited to vote on the proposed name change at the upcoming EGM in April.
In the meantime, we would like to thank you. To our employees: thank you for your resilience and professionalism during a year of significant change. To our partners, including Gilead: thank you for your continued engagement and trust. To you, our shareholders: thank you for your patience and confidence in us as we reposition your Company. And finally, to Jérôme and our Board: thank you for your steadfast guidance and leadership throughout this period. While our strategy has evolved, our commitment remains: to advance innovative medicines for patients and deliver long-term value for shareholders through disciplined, thoughtful leadership.
Sincerely,
Henry Gosebruch
Chief Executive Officer
Galapagos NV