Under the €2m agreement, Galapagos' service division BioFocus DPI will provide lead optimisation services for the university's programme that focuses on destroying cancer cells.

The company told Outsourcing-Pharma.com that while the two-year deal is not the first service contract it has had with a university, it represents a significant one for the firm.

Scientists at ProXara Biotechnology, a spin-out from the University of Bristol, are developing compounds to prevent Protein Kinase B (PKB) being activated which makes tumour cells commit suicide.

PKB is being seen as an exciting new target for the development of novel classes of molecularly-targeted anti-cancer agents, and the university has recently been awarded a €4.3m research grant from the Wellcome Trust's Seeding Drug Discovery Initiative to take this research programme forward.

BioFocus DPI will provide ProXara's researchers with services using Admensa, an ADME (Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism and Excretion) optimisation technology developed by Inpharmatica.

"Admensa will enhance BioFocus DPI's ability to help clients such as the University of Bristol with target and compound selection throughout the drug discovery process," said the company.

Galapagos acquired UK-based CRO Inpharmatica last December "as part of its strategy to build a worldwide leader in drug discovery services, ranging from target discovery all the way through to the delivery of compounds with clinical proof of concept."

Galapagos claims that Amensa enables scientists to efficiently design, profile, identify and effectively prioritise compounds to achieve an optimal balance of ADME properties at all stages of drug discovery.

It says this desktop tool integrates predicted and in vitro data, such as potency and selectivity measurements, enabling scientists to rapidly identify and design high quality compounds to meet their project's objectives.