Takeda and Metabolon announce drug research alliance

Takeda has announced a new collaboration with Metabolon that will focus on the development of new therapeutic targets and biomarkers.

Under the terms of the new agreement, Takeda will utilise a Metabolon-developed analytical platform and software to identify potential development targets, while also finding novel pharmacodynamic biomarkers for translation into the clinic.

This proprietary biomarker discovery technology uses metabolomics to accelerate drug discovery and development by precisely measuring the spectrum of biochemical changes in biological samples, before mapping changes to corresponding metabolic pathways.

Thanks to this alliance, Takeda will also benefit from access to Metabolon's well-established institutional knowledge in the field of metabolome analysis.

Metabolon chief executive officer John Ryals said: "We believe that integrating metabolomic profiling into Takeda's research and development programmes may lead to novel therapies and more informed decisions."

Earlier this month, Takeda announced that it will be acquiring URL Pharma, the creator of the well-established gout therapy Colcrys.