Content about Takeda Pharmaceuticals

OSAKA, Japan — Drug makers Takeda Pharmaceutical and H. Lundbeck have applied with the Food and Drug Administration for a new drug to treat depression in adults.

Japan-based Takeda and Denmark-based Lundbeck announced the submission of a new drug application for Lu AA21004 (vortioxetine) for major depressive disorder.

PRINCETON, N.J. — Ranbaxy Labs has launched an authorized generic version of a diabetes drug made by Takeda Pharmaceutical, Ranbaxy said Friday.

Ranbaxy announced the launch, through subsidiary Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals and under an agreement with Takeda, of pioglitazone hydrochloride tablets, an authorized generic version of Takeda's Actos. An authorized generic is a branded drug marketed at a reduced price under its generic name, typically by a third-party company operating under contract with the original branded drug's manufacturer.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Drug maker Takeda Pharmaceutical has finished its purchase of URL Pharma, the companies said Monday.

Japan-based Takeda announced in April that it would buy URL for $800 million. The acquisition, through local subsidiary Takeda Pharmaceuticals USA, gives Takeda control of the gout drug Colcrys (colchicine). URL will report to Takeda Pharmaceuticals USA president Douglas Cole, and the acquisition is expected to boost 2012 sales by $550 million, Takeda said.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Takeda Pharmaceutical will acquire privately owned drug maker URL Pharma for $800 million, the companies said Wednesday.

Takeda announced that it would acquire Philadelphia-based URL through a U.S. subsidiary for the upfront payment plus future milestone payments. Takeda said it expected the acquisition to contribute "significantly" to its sales and profits starting in fiscal year 2013.

SUPPLIER NEWS — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug made by Merck for Type 2 diabetes, the drug maker said. Merck announced the approval of Janumet XR (sitagliptin and metformin hydrochloride) extended-release tablets as a once-daily treatment for the disease.


PITTSBURGH — Generic drug maker Mylan is challenging the patent on a drug used to treat diabetes, the company said Monday.

Mylan said that it was sued by Takeda Pharmaceutical, Watson Pharmaceuticals and Andrx Labs in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in response to Mylan's filing a regulatory approval application with the Food and Drug Administration for a generic version of Actoplus Met XR (pioglitazone hydrochloride and metformin hydrochloride) extended-release tablets in the 15-mg/1,000-mg and 30-mg/1,000-mg strengths.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved changes to the labeling of a cancer drug made by Takeda Pharmaceuticals, the drug maker said.

Takeda and Millennium, the Japanese drug maker's cancer-drug subsidiary, announced Tuesday that the FDA approved a supplemental new drug application for the injectable multiple myeloma drug Velcade (bortezomib) that updates its label to include additional data from a clinical study showing that the drug extended patients' survival time.

SAN DIEGO — Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Takeda Pharmaceutical have halted development of a treatment for obesity in mid-stage clinical trials, the two companies said.

The companies said the decision to discontinue development of a therapy that combines pramlintide and metreleptin was based on "a commercial reassessment of the pramlintide/metreleptin program … [that] took into account a revised development plan, as well as evolving dynamics within he obesity therapeutic area."

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday informed the public that continued use of a Type 2 diabetes treatment made by Takeda Pharmaceuticals for more than one year may be associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Takeda Pharmaceutical has launched a new treatment for high blood pressure, the company said Friday.

Takeda announced the launch of Edarbi (azilsartan medoxomil), which the Food and Drug Administration approved on Feb. 25 as a once-daily pill for hypertension.

SAN ANTONIO — A drug for Type 2 diabetes made by Takeda Pharmaceutical taken in the morning prevented the disease from developing in nearly three-quarters of patients who were at risk, according to a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Researchers enrolled 602 patients through the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio and seven other centers and administered Actos (pioglitazone) to them, finding that it prevented Type 2 diabetes in 72% of those whose obesity, ethnicity and other factors put them at risk for the disease.