Astellas completes buyout of Perseid Therapeutics

Astellas Pharma has completed its acquisition of Perseid Therapeutics, its former joint venture with Maxygen.

Earlier this year, the company chose to exercise its option to take full control of the business unit by purchasing all of Maxygen's equity interests for $76 million (46.7 million pounds).

Astellas and Maxygen have jointly controlled Perseid since its formation in September 2009, which involved the transfer of Maxygen's programmes and technology assets in the field of protein pharmaceuticals to the unit.

Earlier this year, Astellas commenced a phase I study of CTLA-4 Ig therapeutic, a rheumatoid arthritis therapy that was the first compound to enter clinical testing under the partnership.

As a result of the closure of this deal, Perseid has now become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Astellas.

The company stated that this buyout is expected to "contribute to reinforcing the drug discovery and research platform for biologics as well as enriching the pipeline in the immunology field".