AstraZeneca to purchase Takeda’s core respiratory business

AstraZeneca has agreed a deal to purchase the core respiratory business of Takeda, thus strengthening its capabilities in this area.

The deal will include the expansion of AstraZeneca's rights to roflumilast, which is marketed under the brand names Daliresp and Daxas and is the only approved oral PDE4 inhibitor for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

AstraZeneca has marketed the drug in the US since the acquisition of the rights from Actavis in the first quarter of 2015, with the purchase complementing the company's diverse range of therapy options for COPD.

Under the terms of the agreement, AstraZeneca will make a payment of $575 million (383.24 million pounds), with approximately 200 staff to transfer to AstraZeneca upon completion.

Luke Miels, executive vice-president for global portfolio and product strategy at AstraZeneca, said: "The agreement with Takeda complements our respiratory business, one of our three main therapy areas, supports our return to growth and will be immediately accretive to earnings from 2016."

This comes after the firm agreed a direct exchange of 210,000 compounds with Sanofi last month, promoting more open collaboration between the companies.