Takeda beefs up gout franchise with URL acquisition

Source EP Vantage
Company Takeda, Ardea Biosciences, Savient Pharmaceuticals, URL Pharma 
Date April 12, 2012

With the patent expiry of its lead drug Actos looming Takeda is living up to its promise of finding new products to fill the almost $4bn void that will be left by the diabetes drug. Yesterday, the Japanese pharma group announced that it would be paying an initial $800m for private US company URL Pharma.

While the acquisition may appear to be small beer for the likes of $34bn Takeda, the deal will contribute strongly to earnings quickly. It was struck principally for the gout treatment, Colcrys, which should provide a complimentary product to Takeda’s existing gout franchise that already includes Uloric.

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