Takeda to acquire Colo. maker of vaccines for tropical diseases

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Japanese drug maker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. will buy Fort Collins, Colo.-based vaccine maker Inviragen for up to $250 million, the two companies said Wednesday.

Takeda will pay $35 million upfront for Inviragen, plus future milestone payments of up to $215 million based on progress made in the development of the company's products. Inviragen develops vaccines for such diseases as dengue fever and hand, foot and mouth disease, and operates facilities in Fort Collins, Madison, Wis., and Singapore. The company's lead candidate, the dengue vaccine DENvax, is in mid-stage clinical development. A vaccine for hand, foot and mouth disease caused by enterovirus is in early-stage development, while one for chikungunya is in preclinical development.

"Takeda has taken another major step toward its goal of establishing a world-class global vaccine business by acquiring Inviragen and its advanced vaccine candidate against dengue, a serious mosquito-borne illness that threatens nearly half of the world's population," Takeda Vaccine Business Division EVP Rajeev Venkayya said. "Today's announcement reinforces Takeda's commitment to develop innovative vaccines to fight some of the world's most important infectious diseases."