Mechelen, Belgium; 16 May 2008 – Galapagos NV (Euronext: GLPG) announces today that first quarter 2008 operational and financial results were in line with management expectations. These results encourage the Company to retain full year 2008 financial guidance given earlier this year.

Galapagos anticipates full-year group revenues of €75 - €80 million in 2008, a growth in the 20% range compared to 2007. Management remains confident that the restructuring and consolidation efforts in BioFocus DPI will start to pay off in 2008 and will contribute to bringing the division back into profitability. R&D expenditure is expected to increase to approximately €50 million. Full year cash burn in 2008 is expected be limited to around €25 million, leading to an expected year-end cash position of approximately €25 million.

Galapagos made solid advances in its business since the start of the year, announcing strong progress in its product pipeline and several new agreements. The Company selected pre-clinical candidates in its bone metastasis and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) programs, anticipating initiation of Phase I clinical studies in bone metastasis before year end, and for its first-in-class RA drug in early 2009. Galapagos in-licensed Nanocort®, a product for the treatment of acute flares in RA, with plans to initiate a Phase II clinical trial in the first quarter of 2009. The Company also intends to select a pre-clinical candidate in osteoarthritis in 2008. Galapagos further achieved a €3.4 million milestone in the rheumatoid arthritis alliance with Janssen Pharmaceutica, was awarded a €4.4 million grant for rheumatoid arthritis development, and signed a collaborative research agreement with Bausch & Lomb. The BioFocus DPI service division announced agreements with Janssen Pharmaceutica, Lilly, the National Institutes of Health, and Allergan. Galapagos cancelled its listing on the Alternative Investment Market (AiM) of the London Stock Exchange and launched a Level-1 American Depositary Receipt (ADR) facility for over-the-counter trading in the United States.

Publication of Annual Financial Report 2007 and Shareholders’ Meeting documents
The Company published its Annual Financial Report 2007 and documentation for its Annual General Shareholders’ Meeting (which will be followed by an Extraordinary General Shareholders’ Meeting), all of which are available in English and Dutch via the Company’s website at www.glpg.com, or upon request via e-mail at ir@glpg.com. The Annual and Extraordinary General Shareholders’ Meetings will take place on 3 June 2008, starting at 18.00 CET, at the Company’s headquarters in Mechelen, Belgium.

About Galapagos
Galapagos (Euronext Brussels: GLPG; Euronext Amsterdam: GLPGA; OTC: GLPYY) is a drug discovery company with pre-clinical programs in bone and joint diseases and bone metastasis. Its division BioFocus DPI offers a full suite of target-to-drug discovery products and services to pharmaceutical and biotech companies, encompassing target discovery and validation, screening and drug discovery through to delivery of pre-clinical candidates. BioFocus DPI also provides adenoviral reagents for rapid identification and validation of novel drug targets, compound libraries for drug screening as well as chemogenomics and ADMET database products to select targets and compounds. Galapagos currently employs 450 people and operates facilities in six countries, with global headquarters in Mechelen, Belgium. More information about Galapagos and BioFocus DPI can be found at www.glpg.com and www.biofocusdpi.com.

CONTACTS

Galapagos NV
Onno van de Stolpe, CEO
Tel: +31 6 2909 8028
ir@glpg.com

This release may contain forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements containing the words “believes,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “stands to,” and “continues,” as well as similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which might cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of Galapagos, or industry results, to be materially different from any historic or future results, financial conditions, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Given these uncertainties, the reader is advised not to place any undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of publication of this document. Galapagos expressly disclaims any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements in this document to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, unless required by law or regulation.