In Belgium, a native son returns to resurrect the drugmaker Galapagos — and ‘to get the trust back’

There is, according to Wall Street, no worse investment in biotech than Galapagos NV.

The Belgian company trades at an enterprise value approaching negative $2 billion. That means its liquid assets, mostly cash, are worth more than the company itself. It means, according to the market, that every dollar Galapagos puts toward inventing new drugs would be better spent doing pretty much anything else.

“Basically the company is being valued as though they are lighting that cash on fire,” said Emily Field, an equities analyst at Barclays in London.

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