Takeda, Ultragenyx partner to develop rare genetic disease treatments

NOVATO, Calif. and OSAKA, Japan — Takeda on Tuesday announced a new partnership with Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical to develop and commercialize therapies for rare genetic diseases. 

 

Under the partnership, Ultragenyx will initially receive an exclusive license for one of Takeda’s preclinical product candidates in a pre-determined field of use, along with the option to co-develop and co-commercialize the candidate in other therapeutic areas. Additionally, the two companies have established a five-year research collaboration that will give Ultragenyx the option to license as many as five Takeda product candidates for rare diseases once the companies agree on and conduct initial validation activities under a joint research committee. 

 

“This broad collaboration provides Ultragenyx with a product opportunity that is approaching clinical-stage development as well as a potential continued source of new product candidates that will help us achieve our goal of bringing a new therapy into the clinic every one to two years,” Ultragenyx CEO Emil Kakkis said. “Takeda has an impressive early pipeline of therapies with potential across a number of rare genetic diseases, and we are pleased that Takeda has chosen to partner with us to bring these therapies to patients with rare diseases that have few or no treatment options.”

 

Takeda will have the exclusive option to commercialize any licensed products that are the result of the collaboration in Asia and it will have the option to exclusively license one Ultragenyx pipeline products in Japan. Takeda will invest up to $65 million in Ultragenyx in two tranches, the first of which will be a $25 million stock purchase and $15 million cash premium at closing. Ultragenyx’s option will see a second equity purchase of 25 million with no additional premium. No additional financial details were disclosed. 

 

“Ultragenyx is a rapidly emerging rare disease company, led by a highly experienced and successful management team,” Takeda chief medical and scientific officer Dr. Andrew Plump said. “This partnership provides Takeda access to Ultragenyx's strong patient-centric development and regulatory capabilities in the rare disease space, and could create significant value for both companies by delivering important new therapies to patients.”