In a busy news day for Takeda, the company says it has snapped up privately held US firm Intellikine in a cash deal worth up to $310 million in upfront and milestone payments. The move gives Takeda a greater footing in oncology, with a specific focus on small molecule kinase inhibitors.
Intellikine’s most advanced compound is INK128, an mTORIC1/2 inhibitor, which is expected to progress to Phase II studies in 2012. Both this compound and INK1117 – a PI3K-alpha inhibitor – will fall under the watchful eye of Millennium, Takeda’s oncology arm.
US OK for Edarbyclor
Meanwhile the Japanese company has been given a green light from the US Food and Drug Administration for its blood pressure lowering drug Edarbyclor (azilsartan medoxomil/chlorthalidone) – becoming the only fixed dose therapy in the USA to combine an angiotensin II receptor blocker with the diuretic chlorthalidone in a once-daily, single dose. The company will be hoping these key characteristics will enable it to take a slice of the lucrative bp lowering market – clinical studies showed a superior benefit of Edarbyclor to the fixed dose combination of olmesartan and hydrochlorothiazide, “regardless of age, gender or age”, it says.
