MECHELEN, Belgium—Galapagos NV kicked off the new year with news of positive preliminary top-line results from its Phase 1b study in osteoarthritis. The study was investigating GLPG1972, a first-in-class investigational molecule, in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study in patients aged 50 to 75 years with knee and/or hip osteoarthritis. Primary objectives included safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics, with a secondary objective of any reduction of ARGS neoepitope, a cartilage breakdown biomarker. GLPG1972 targets the cartilage-degrading enzyme ADAMTS-5, patients saw a dose-dependent reduction of ARGS neoepitope versus placebo. GLPG1972 was well tolerated, with one discontinuation with reversible abnormal liver function test in the highest dose cohort, and the pharmacokinetics in elderly individuals were similar to those in healthy participants, which bodes well for once-daily