Takeda announces obesity-drug partnership

Takeda Pharmaceutical has announced that it has signed an exclusive worldwide licensing and research agreement with LG Life Sciences for the discovery, development and commercialisation of anti-obesity compounds.

According to the terms of the agreement, LG Life Sciences will receive initial payments and research funds, in addition to milestone payments for the achievement of research, development and commercialisation landmarks, with this sum being in excess of $100 million (51.1 million pounds).

LG Life Sciences will also receive royalty payments following the commercialisation of any compounds through the partnership.

In exchange, Takeda has been given exclusive rights to compounds selected by the firm based on the obesity programme of LG Life Sciences, while both firms will contribute scientific knowledge to the partnership.

Yasuchika Hasegawa, president of Takeda, said: “One of our core therapeutic areas for research and development is anti-atherosclerosis related diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension [and] hyperlipidemia.”

He added that the firm would now use its in-house research and development infrastructure in addition to its licensing work and partnerships to focus on the launch of anti-obesity medications that are related to these diseases.

Earlier this month, Takeda announced a restructuring of its pharmaceutical marketing division responsible for domestic ethical drugs, with changes to occur from the start of April 2007.