Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. acquired a strategic equity stake in newly launched Izana Bioscience, as part of a licensing agreement.
Izana is a clinical-stage translational medicine company initially focused on ankylosing spondylitis, a type of arthritis that affects the spine.
Under the deal, financial terms of which were not disclosed, Japan-based Takeda granted U.K.-based Izana a licence to develop, manufacture and commercialize namilumab worldwide and for any indication.
Takeda has rights to sublicense namilumab under a licence agreement with Amgen Inc.
Namilumab, or IZN-101, is an antibody that has shown effectiveness in a phase 2 proof-of-concept trial conducted in over 100 rheumatoid arthritis patients.
