Board of directors of Galapagos NV

Corporate governance CSR report

Composition of Galapagos NV’s board of directors

Onno van de Stolpe – Please refer to the “Composition of Galapagos NV’s executive committee” for a biography.

Rajesh Parekh, MA, DPhil has served as the Chairman of our board of directors since 2004. Dr. Parekh is a General Partner at Advent Life Sciences LLP, which he joined in 2006. During an academic career at Oxford University, he co-founded Oxford GlycoSciences PLC, where he served as Chief Scientific Officer and Chief Executive Officer from 1988 until its sale to Celltech Group PLC (now UCB SA) in 2003. He has founded or served on the boards of several life sciences companies in the United States and Europe including Celldex Therapeutics, Inc.; Avila Therapeutics, Inc.; EUSA Pharma (Europe) Limited; Thiakis Limited; Biocartis NV; Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics (AMT) Holding NV (now uniQure); Aura, Inc.; Itara Ltd.; and Cellnovo SA. Dr. Parekh currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Advent Venture Partners; Advent Life Sciences LLP; Aleta, Inc.; Amphista Therapeutics Ltd.; Arrakis, Inc.; Artax, Inc.; Capella BioSciences Ltd.; Levicept Limited; PE Limited; Alpha Anomeric SA; Macrolide, Inc.; Project Paradise Limited; and Tridek-One Therapeutics SAS. He is also a member of the supervisory board of the Novartis Venture Fund. He received his MA in Biochemistry and DPhil in Molecular Medicine from the University of Oxford, where he has also been a Senior Research Fellow and Professor.

Werner Cautreels, Ph.D. has served as a member of our board of directors since 2009. Dr. Cautreels was the President and Chief Executive Officer and member of the board of Selecta Biosciences, Inc. from 2010 until December 2018. He is a co-founder and board member of Accoy Pharmaceuticals since 2016. Previously, Dr. Cautreels joined Solvay Pharmaceuticals SA in 1998 where he was Global Head of R&D and later Global Chief Executive Officer from 2005 onwards, until it was acquired by Abbott Laboratories Inc. in February 2010. Prior to joining Solvay he was employed by Sanofi SA, Sterling Winthrop, Inc. and Nycomed Amersham PLC in a variety of R&D management positions in Europe and in the United States from 1979 to 1998. Dr. Cautreels was a director of Innogenetics NV and ArQule, Inc. from 1999 until 2006, and of Seres Therapeutics Inc. from 2012 until 2016. He was the President of the Belgian-Luxemburg Chamber of Commerce for Russia and Belarus until June 2010. He graduated from the University of Antwerp, with a Doctorate in Chemistry, specializing in mass spectrometry. He received his management and financial education from the Harvard Business School.

Howard Rowe, JD has served as a member of our board of directors since 2010. Mr. Rowe is Managing Director at Hayfin Capital Management LLP. Prior to joining Hayfin Capital Management, he was a Managing Director with The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. where he had multiple healthcare responsibilities over his 12 years at the firm. His most recent roles at Goldman Sachs were as part of the European Special Situations and Principal Strategies teams where he established and led the private healthcare investing effort. During that time he served on the boards of EUSA Pharma (Europe) Limited, Healthcare Brands International Limited, SmallBone Innovations, Inc., MedAvante, Inc. and Ikonisys, Inc. Prior to his investing activities, Mr. Rowe was a senior member of the European Healthcare Investment Banking team, where he advised numerous corporate clients on M&A and corporate finance activities. Before joining Goldman Sachs, he was a corporate lawyer with the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. Mr. Rowe received his Bachelor of Science in Psychobiology from the University of Southern California and his JD from Harvard Law School. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Managers of Paradigm Spine LLC.

Katrine Bosley has served as a member of our board of directors since 2013. Ms. Bosley served as the President, Chief Executive Officer and member of the board of directors of Editas Medicine, Inc. from June 2014 to March 2019. Prior to joining Editas, she was the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at The Broad Institute from 2013 to 2014. From 2009 to 2012, she was President, Chief Executive Officer and member of the board of directors of Avila Therapeutics, Inc., which was acquired by Celgene Corporation in 2012. She served as President, Celgene Avilomics Research at Celgene in 2012. Prior to her time at Avila Therapeutics she was Vice President, Strategic Operations at Adnexus, a Bristol-Myers Squibb R&D Company, and was Vice President, Business Development at Adnexus Therapeutics, Inc. before that. Ms. Bosley joined Adnexus Therapeutics from Biogen Idec, Inc. where she had roles in business development, commercial operations and portfolio strategy in the United States and Europe. Ms. Bosley graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in Biology. She currently serves on the boards of Genocea Biosciences, Inc., the Biotechnology Innovation Organization and of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Institute.

Christine Mummery, Ph.D. has served as a member of our board of directors since 30 September 2015. Dr. Mummery has served as a Professor of Developmental Biology and Chair of the Department of Anatomy and Embryology at the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) since 2008 and a Professor of Vascular Modelling at the Technical University of Twente in the Netherlands since September 2015. In 2007, she was a Radcliffe fellow at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital when human-induced pluripotent stem cells were being developed, and she was the first to derive these from patients in the Netherlands. In 2002, she became a Professor at the Utrecht University Medical Centre in the Netherlands. She was a postdoctoral fellow from 1981 to 1984 at the Hubrecht Institute in Utrecht, where she later also served as a staff scientist and group leader until 2008. Dr. Mummery obtained her B.S. in Physics, Electronics, and Mathematics at the University of Nottingham and her Ph.D. in BioPhysics at London University in the United Kingdom. Her primary research focus is currently the development and use of stem cells in cardiovascular development and disease. She served on the Ethical Councils of the Dutch Ministry of Health, is member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), the KHMW, editor of the Cell Press journal Stem Cell Reports, (vice) president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research and past-president of the International Society of Differentiation. She was co-founder of Pluriomics BV (now Ncardia BV). In addition, she chairs the executive board of the Institute for human Organ and Disease Model Technologies (hDMT), a non-profit R&D institute of which the LUMC is a founding partner. She is a review committee member of the European Research Council, the Leducq Foundation, the Wellcome Trust (ad hoc) and the Heineken Jury Prize (KNAW). She is further on the scientific advisory boards of the Gurdon Institute (Cambridge, UK), Stem Cell Australia and the Allen Institute, Seattle.

Mary Kerr, Ph.D., has served as a member of our board of directors since 26 July 2016. Dr. Kerr, a UK national, is Chief Executive Officer and director at NeRRe Therapeutics and Chief Executive Officer and director at KaNDy Therapeutics. Prior to her appointment at NeRRe, Dr. Kerr held a range of senior leadership roles at GSK over more than 20 years, most recently as Senior Vice President and Global Franchise leader for the Immuno-inflammation and Infectious Diseases franchise. Dr. Kerr was a founding member and on the Corporate Executive team of ViiV Healthcare where she led a turnaround in the performance of the HIV business in Europe. She has spent the majority of her career on the R&D commercial interface in global strategy and regional operational roles, predominantly in the specialty and orphan space. Dr. Kerr gained a Ph.D. in Pharmacology at the University of Bradford, did post-doctoral research at the Michigan Cancer Foundation in Detroit and has an MBA from the University of Kingston.

About Galapagos NV’s board of directors

Galapagos NV’s board of directors consists of minimum five and maximum nine members, including the Chairman and the CEO. The Chairman is a non-executive director and does not hold the office of CEO. At least three directors are independent.

The directors are appointed by the shareholders’ meeting upon the proposal of the board, for a renewable term of up to four years. When a position on the board becomes vacant, the other directors may temporarily fill the mandate until the shareholders’ meeting appoints a new director. The nomination and remuneration committee nominates, for the approval of the board, candidates to fill vacancies and advises on proposals for appointment originating from shareholders, in each case taking into account Galapagos’ needs and the selection criteria determined by the board.

Except for Mr. Van de Stolpe, all board members are non-executive directors.

In 2018, the following persons were members of the board: Dr. Parekh (Chairman), Mr. Van de Stolpe (CEO), Dr. Van Barlingen (until 24 April 2018), Dr. Cautreels, Mr. Rowe, Ms. Bosley, Dr. Mummery and Dr. Kerr; the latter four directors were appointed as independent directors within the meaning of article 526ter of the Belgian Companies Code. Dr. Cautreels, who had previously served as an independent director, no longer met the independence criteria upon his reappointment for a fourth consecutive term on 24 April 2018 because article 526ter, 2° of the Belgian Companies Code only allows for a maximum of three consecutive terms for independent directors.

In 2018, the board thus consisted of three women and five men (as from 24 April 2018: four men), representing four different nationalities and different age categories.

Name

Nationality

Year of birth

Onno van de Stolpe

Dutch

1959

Rajesh Parekh

British

1960

Harrold van Barlingen(1)

Dutch

1965

(1)

Until 24 April 2018

Werner Cautreels

Belgian

1952

Howard Rowe

British and U.S.

1969

Katrine Bosley

U.S.

1968

Christine Mummery

British and Dutch

1953

Mary Kerr

British

1961

Furthermore, our board members have different educational backgrounds, as can be read in each of their profiles (above).

During 2018, Galapagos NV complied with the Law of 28 July 2011 with respect to gender diversification in the board of directors, and the board will continue to monitor future compliance. In proposing candidates, particular consideration is given to diversity in gender, age, nationality, educational and professional background, as well as complementary skills, knowledge and experience.

The board’s role is to pursue the long-term success of Galapagos. The board does so by assuming the authority and responsibilities assigned to it by Belgian corporate law and by combining entrepreneurial leadership with appropriate risk assessment and management. Each of the directors’ expertise and experience is exemplified by the varied professional activities they carry out and offices they hold. During its meetings in 2018, the board dealt with matters pertaining to, among other things, our strategy and growth, the evaluation of business development opportunities, convening of the shareholders' meeting and preparation of resolutions to be submitted for approval to the shareholders, review and approval of our financial reporting and assessment of the board and its committees.

In 2018, the board of directors held four regular meetings, eight meetings by telephone conference to discuss specific matters and two meetings in the presence of a notary (relating to the issuance of Warrant Plan 2018 and Warrant Plan 2018 RMV, and the issuance of shares with cancellation of the shareholders’ preferential subscription rights). One meeting in the presence of a notary was attended by Dr. Cautreels and Dr. Van Barlingen via telephone conference; all other directors were represented by proxy. The other meeting in the presence of a notary was attended by Mr. Van de Stolpe and Dr. Cautreels; all other directors were represented by proxy.

The attendance rate for the other meetings was as follows: Dr. Parekh: 67%; Mr. Van de Stolpe: 92%; Dr. Cautreels: 100%; Dr. Van Barlingen: 100%; Mr. Rowe: 83%; Ms. Bosley: 75%; Dr. Mummery: 92% and Dr. Kerr: 92%. The overall attendance rate was 88%. In addition, certain board members also attended a number of review meetings with scientific staff of the group.

The board of directors acts as a collegial body. A formal evaluation of the board and its committees was initiated in December 2017 and was completed in March 2018. Each board member provided feedback through individual assessment forms. The results were presented on an aggregate basis by the secretary of the board and served as a basis for discussion by the full board. This evaluation specifically addressed the functioning of the board, the size and composition of the board, the interaction between the board and the executive management, and the functioning of the audit committee and the nomination and remuneration committee.