Galileo Research origins lie in 1972 as the Research Centre of Istituto Gentili, an Italian pharmaceutical company founded in 1917. At the beginning of the ’80s, scientists at the Gentili Research Centre discovered and developed new molecules in the class of bisphosphonates and in the field of bone diseases, in particular clodronate, alendronate and neridronate, later licenced to Boehringer Mannheim and Merck & Co, respectively. In 1997 Abiogen Pharma was founded as a spin-off after the acquisition of Istituto Gentili by Merck & Co. The Research Centre continued to work in the field of bone and joint diseases and also expanded its knowledge and activities to the areas of oncology and CNS. Galileo Research was established in July 2011 as a spin-off of the R&D Division of Abiogen Pharma.