Zedira GmbH

Takeda Pharmaceuticals has for exclusive worldwide rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) using a panel of selected Innate Pharma antibodies against an undisclosed target, with a primary focus in Celiac disease. Under the terms of the deal, France-based Innate will receive $5 million upfront and is eligible to receive up to $410 million in future development, regulatory and commercial milestones, plus royalties on potential net sales of any commercial product resulting from the license. Japan-based Takeda already has three for celiac disease in phase 2 trials — TAK-101, TAK-227 andTAK-062.TAK-101, licensed from in 2019, is an immune-modifying nanoparticle that contains gliadin proteins designed to promote immune tolerance to gluten by preventing gliadin-specific T-cell activation. TAK-227, born from a with Zedira and Dr. Falk Pharma, isa selective, oral small molecule designed to inhibit tissue transglutaminase.TAK-062, picked up in the of PvP Biologics, is an enzyme designed to break down gluten proteins in the stomach. While applying ADC modalities to celiac disease is relatively new territory,ADC deals in the oncology field have been exploding.BioNTech just with China-based biotech DualityBio to co-develop and commercialize two cancer ADC candidates.A few weeks ago, revealed a $43 billion deal toacquire the ADC technology pioneer,Seagen. The following day, Synaffix and MacroGenics that they had expanded their next-gen ADCs partnership. , AstraZeneca signed a potential $1.1 billion deal withChina-based KYM Biosciencesfor a potential first-in-class ADC targeting Claudin 18.2

Innate Pharma announced Monday that Takeda will pay it $5 million upfront as part of an exclusive licensing agreement focused on antibody drug conjugates (ADCs). The deal could be worth up to $410 million if future development, regulatory and commercial milestones are met, said Innate.The agreement provides Takeda exclusive global rights to research and develop a number of ADCs using a panel of Innate antibodies against an undisclosed target. The primary therapeutic focus of the collaboration will be Celiac disease - an indication Takeda is also targeting via a deal with Zedira to co-develop the Phase II small molecule agent ZED1227/TAK-227 announced in October.Innate has four active partnerships with other large-cap pharmaceutical companies, focused on monoclonal and multi-specific antibodies. This includes a natural killer (NK) cell engager collaboration with Sanofi that was initiated in 2016 and expanded late last year to include development of new therapeutics for the treatment of solid tumours.The Takeda deal is therefore notable on two fronts: “it expands the application of Innate’s science beyond our oncology focus and demonstrates how our antibody engineering expertise can play a major role in developing ADC formats,” said Yannis Morel, executive vice president of product portfolio strategy & business development at Innate.“We are thrilled to be working with Takeda, a company which has been very successful in developing new drugs across multiple therapeutic areas,” added Morel. Innate shares rose 14% in pre-market trading in response to the announcement. 

Takeda entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Hutchmed Limited to develop its colorectal cancer (CRC) candidate, fruquintinib, beyond mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, the Japanese biotech announced Monday. As per the agreement, Takeda will make an upfront payment of $400 million and pledge up to $730 million more in regulatory, developmental and commercial milestones. Hutchmed will also be eligible for royalties on net sales. In return, Takeda will gain access to fruquintinib, a highly selective and potent inhibitor of the vascular endothelial growth factor receptors 1, 2 and 3. Takeda's Teresa Bitetti, president of the Global Oncology Business Unit, said Hutchmed's candidate "has the potential to change the treatment landscape for patients with refractory metastatic CRC who need additional treatment options." The Hutchmed partnership will allow Takeda to their oncology portfolio. Fruquintinib is an investigational oral drug with therapeutic potential across different subtypes of refractory metastatic CRC. At the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress, held in September 2022, data from the Phase III FRESCO-2 clinical trial showed that fruquintinib significantly improves overall survival in patients, the study's primary endpoint, and had a tolerable safety profile. In November 2022, the CRC hopeful failed to achieve one of its two primary endpoints in the Phase III FRUTIGA study in advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. When used with paclitaxel, fruquintinib significantly improved progression-free survival but not overall survival, compared to paclitaxel monotherapy. Last month, Hutchmed started the rolling submission of fruquintinib's New Drug Application to the FDA, which the company expects to complete in the first half of this year. The FDA granted Fruquintinib Fast Track designation for metastatic CRC. Takeda's Appetite for Deals Aside from Hutchmed, Takeda has entered – and backed out of – several deals in the last year. Last month, the company bought Nimbus Therapeutics' NDI-034858, an investigational oral and selective allosteric tyrosine kinase 2 inhibitor for autoimmune diseases. The deal, which could reach up to $6 billion in value, also covers the acquisition of subsidiary company Nimbus Lakshmi. Two weeks before being acquired by Takeda, NDI-034858 showed promising Phase IIb performance in moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, with significantly more patients achieving a 75% improvement in skin lesions compared with placebo. In October 2022, Takeda collaborated with Zedira and Dr. Falk Pharma to advance ZED1227/TAK-227, an investigational drug for celiac disease with first-in-class potential. The deal gave Takeda exclusive rights to develop and commercialize the candidate in the U.S. and other countries except for Australia, Europe, Canada and China.