Some 22 years after founding what was one of the biggest success stories in Europe's biotech sector before a recent series of setbacks in the clinic struck, Onno van de Stolpe has decided to retire as Galapagos CEO and the search has already started for his successor.

The company said the study of JTA-004 failed to meet its primary and key secondary endpoints, though a post-hoc analysis indicated activity in a patient subset.

US FDA is ‘willing to look at anything’ but sponsors need to demonstrate an effect on pain as drug development challenges remain. Accompanying chart describes 32 drugs in Phase II and Phase III clinical trials and one with a pending biologics license application.

The Belgium-headquartered firm has struggled of late to impress investors, most recently with data from its salt-inducible kinase inhibitors, and CMO Walid Abi-Saab told Scrip that one reason could be "the level of optimism that prevails in the company. We jump on things a bit ahead of time."