Takeda signs obesity deal with Amylin worth over $1 billion

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co and Amylin have signed a pact potentially worth over $1 billion to the US firm to develop and commercialise products for the treatment of obesity “and related indications”.

The deal covers pramlintide/metreleptin and davalintide, which are compounds currently in Phase II. Cashwise, Amylin will receive a one-time up-front payment of $75 million and is eligible to receive certain development, commercialisation and sales-based milestones that could exceed $1 billion. It also provides for future tiered, double-digit royalty payments.

Amylin will be responsible for development through Phase II at home and Takeda will do the same outside the USA. In most instances, Amylin will be responsible for 20% of development costs associated with obtaining approval for products in the USA and Takeda will pay the rest and 100% abroad.

Yasuchika Hasegawa, chief executive of the Japanese drugmaker, said that by leveraging his firm's “global development and commercial infrastructure we look forward to maximising the significant potential of the products under this agreement”. He added that both have extensive experience in the diabetes and metabolic disease area, and this collaboration should allow us to more quickly bring promising new treatments to patients in need”.

His counterpart at Amylin, Daniel Bradbury, said his company “recognises the enormous potential of this collaboration to advance more options in obesity treatment more quickly than either company could do alone”.

Sales of Takeda’s key drugs fall
News of the deal came a day after Takeda reported net income for the six months ended September 30 of 189.63 billion yen (around $2.10 billion), a 164.2% increase over the like, year-earlier period when the company booked charges related to the acquisition of Millennium Pharmaceuticals. Sales fell 6.4% to 755.45 billion yen, mainly due to the strength of Japan’s currency.

Takeda’s biggest earner, the diabetes drug Actos (pioglitazone), brought in 194.80 billion yen, down 4.1%, while the gastrointestinal drug Prevacid/Takepron (lansoprazole) decreased 11.5% to 132.00 billion yen. Sales of the blood pressure drug Blopress (candesartan cilexetil) were down 5.8% to 112.40 billion yen, while turnover from the prostate cancer treatment Leuplin (leuprorelin) fell 9.0% to 59.20 billion yen.

Takeda maintained its full-year profit forecast of 280 billion yen but slightly lowered its sales target from 1.50 trillion yen to 1.48 trillion yen.