Takeda commences phase III study of acid-related disease treatment

Takeda has announced the commencement of a phase III clinical trial of TAK-438, its investigational treatment for acid-related diseases.

The company will be conducting a multi-centric series of phase III studies of the potassium-competitive acid blocker in Japan to evaluate its safety and efficacy against illnesses such as gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer and reflux oesophagitis.

Originated by Takeda, TAK-438 functions by suppressing gastric acid secretion using a different biological mechanism from proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapies.

Dr Nancy Joseph-Ridge, corporate officer and general manager for the pharmaceutical development division of Takeda, noted that many patients are unable to benefit from PPI treatments due to the severity of their conditions.

"We will efficiently conduct the development activities of TAK-438 so that we can offer another potential new treatment option to these patients as quickly as possible," she said.

This comes after the firm began a phase III trial of the developmental type 2 diabetes drug TAK-875 in Japan last week.