Japan's Takeda and Israel's Teva to jointly Market Off-Patent Drugs

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. of Japan and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries of Israel plan to set up a corporation in Japan early next spring to market off-patent drugs. Takeda releases large portions of its off-patent drugs to the joint company and concentrates on R&D for new medicine.

Details are not available at the moment as to the new company's capital, etc. but Teva is expected to finance 51% and the rest Takeda. The new company will market patent-off drugs of both Takeda and Teva in Japan.

Takeda has to its credit 200 or so pharmaceutical products at home and most of them have run out of patent. An exact list of off-patent drugs to be released to the new company is made known by next spring.  

Meanwhile, Takeda has obtained a permit from the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration), to market a new medication for blood cancer "Ixazomib", it was announced November 21.

Takeda already has its own medication drug for blood cancer "Velcade" but its patent expires at the year end 2017. Takeda expects its successor Ixazomib to sell to the tune of over 100 billion yen.

Ixazomib is a therapeutic agent for repetitive multiple myelomas developed by Millennium Pharmaceuticals acquired in 2008. While the current drug Velcade is an injection requiring the patients to visit clinics, Ixazomib is a capsule to be taken once a week and less troublesome.

Takeda had applied to the FDA for a permit earlier in July this year for marketing Ixazomib. An application for preferential examination of Ixazomib is underway in Europe for a permit for marketing this drug.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company is Japan's largest pharmaceutical company and one of the top 15 in Asia. Fortune Magazine ranked Takeda among the top 100 companies to work for in the United States.

News Source: Nikkei Shimbun