Takeda venture arm invests in Fate
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (Tokyo:4502) said its Takeda Ventures Inc. venture arm made an undisclosed equity investment in regenerative medicine company Fate Therapeutics Inc. (San Diego, Calif.). Takeda said the investment is consistent with its intention to "develop a stronger foundation in regenerative medicines." Fate's lead candidate, FT1050, is in Phase Ib testing for hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) support in patients with hematologic malignancies undergoing non-myeloablative therapy. The product is a small molecule prostaglandin E2 analog.
Separately, Takeda and partner Pronova Biopharma ASA (OSE:PRON) said 2 and 4 g/day oral TAK-085 met the primary endpoint of non-inferiority to eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) in reducing triglycerides from baseline to week 12 in a Phase III trial to treat hypertriglyceridemia. High-dose TAK-085 was superior to EPA in reducing triglycerides. Takeda plans to submit an NDA in Japan for the compound by 1Q12. Pronova was up NOK0.50 to NOK8.60 on Tuesday. ...