Maxygen, Astellas deal

Astellas exercised its option to acquire Maxygen's 83.3% stake in the companies' JV Perseid Therapeutics LLC for $76 million in cash. In 2009, the partners formed the JV, into which Maxygen transferred substantially all of its protein therapeutics, including its MAXY-4 program of second-generation CTLA4-Ig fusion proteins for autoimmune disease and transplant rejection. Perseid's lead candidate in the MAXY-4 program, ASP2408, is in Phase I testing to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The deal is expected to close next quarter after which Perseid will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Astellas (see BioCentury, July 6, 2009). ...