Takeda and Lundbeck announce progress of anxiety drug to phase III

Takeda Pharmaceutical and H Lundbeck have announced that Lu AA21004, a compound used to treat mood and anxiety disorders, has progressed to phase III of clinical development as a result of receiving positive data at phase II.

In total, over 2,000 are expected to be enrolled in the phase III studies for the compound worldwide, while Takeda will pay Lundbeck a milestone payment of $40 million (19.68 million pounds) as a result of the progress of the compound.

The compound was originally discovered by Lundbeck and has been jointly developed by both firms. It belongs to a new class of drugs that has a different mode of action from other antidepressants currently on the market.

Dr Masaomi Miyamoto, general manager of the pharmaceutical development division of Takeda, said: “We are pleased with the continued positive results from the Lu AA21004 development program which is part of the collaboration with Lundbeck.”

He added that the advancing of this compound marks an important achievement in the development of the company’s drug development pipeline in the field of central nervous system disorders.

In September 2007, Lundbeck and Takeda signed a partnership agreement relating to the development of a number of compounds, including Lu AA21004 and Lu AA24530.