Takeda divested two products to raise money

Takeda continues to fill the huge bill paid for the acquisition of rare disease giant shire by selling two products, stripping the product line and simplifying the product mix? On May 9, Novartis announced that it had reached an agreement with Takeda pharmaceutical to acquire assets related to its xerophthalmic product xiidra ® (lifegradast ophthalmic solutions, 5% concentration) and global rights The terms of the deal include an advance payment of $3.4 billion, with potential future milestone payments likely to be as high as $1.9 billion As part of the agreement, Novartis will host about 400 employees related to the product At the same time, Takeda pharmaceutical also said that it had sold Tachosil ® (fibrin sealant), a surgical patch product designed to control bleeding, to Ethicon, a Johnson subsidiary, for us $400 million, and 85 staff related to the product would be transferred to Ethicon Data for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018 show that Tachosil's net sales for the year were approximately $155 million Christophe Weber, President and CEO of Takeda, said, "Takeda put forward the corporate growth strategy after the transformation acquisition of shire earlier this year, and the divestiture of these products is an important step to promote the strategy The company is striving to strategically simplify and optimize our product portfolio while rapidly deleveraging and continuing to invest in our growth drivers As a value-based, R & D-oriented global biopharmaceutical leader, Takeda will focus on its main business areas: Gastroenterology (GI), rare diseases, plasma derived therapy, oncology and neuroscience Takeda plans to use the proceeds from divestitures of these products to reduce debt, simplify our portfolio and accelerate deleveraging to achieve the medium-term net debt / adjusted EBITDA 2.0 times target " How does Novartis plan to harvest a product with us $3.4 billion? Currently, xiidra is the only prescription eyedrop that can improve both symptoms and signs of dry eye disease The deal will consolidate Novartis eye's portfolio and eye market leadership The deal is expected to be completed in the second half of 2019, depending on customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval Novartis plans to smooth the transition and integrate xiidra into its pharmaceutical portfolio Dry eye disease (DED), also known as keratoconjunctival xerosis (KCS), refers to the general term of many diseases with abnormal quality or quantity of tear or abnormal dynamics caused by any reason, resulting in the decline of tear film stability, accompanied by ocular discomfort and / or pathological changes of ocular surface It is the most common ocular surface disease at present The main treatment is to use artificial tears Dry eye can cause eye pain, corneal ulcers or crusts, limited activity (such as not being able to use a computer or reading for too long), and reduced tolerance to dry environments (such as the cabin) if the severity of the disease is increased or untreated The drug was purchased by shire in 2013 for us $160 million from us sarcode Bioscience, and approved by US FDA in 2016 for the treatment of dry eye related symptoms and signs Later, due to Takeda's acquisition of shire, the drug became an asset of Takeda In 2018, the drug achieved $400 million in sales, and there is still room for growth in the future Xiidra is a new type of small molecule integrin inhibitor, which can bind to integrin LFA-1 (lymphocyte function related antigen-1) and block the interaction between LFA-1 and homologous ligand ICAM-1 (intercellular adhesion molecule-1) LFA-1 is a protein on the surface of leukocytes In dry eye disease, ICAM-1 is over expressed in cornea and conjunctiva The interaction of LFA-1 / ICAM-1 promotes the formation of immune synapse, which leads to T cell activation and migration to target tissue Therefore, the drug has anti-inflammatory mechanism and is also the first dry eye therapy approved for the treatment of signs of eye injury and symptoms of patients The safety and efficacy of xiidra were confirmed in four independent randomized, controlled studies involving more than 1000 patients aged 19-97, 76% of whom were women Patients were randomized to receive twice daily lifegrad eye drops or placebo-controlled eye drops for 12 weeks The results showed that the symptoms and signs of dry eyes in the lifegrad group were significantly improved compared with those in the placebo group The most common adverse reactions of xiidra include eye irritation, eye discomfort or blurred vision, taste disorder Dry eye is not common in children, and its safety and efficacy have not been confirmed in children under 17 years old Paul Hudson, CEO of Novartis, said: "xiidra has unique dual benefits and is an important initiative for our innovative investment in the interests of patients with eye diseases We are looking forward to taking advantage of Novartis' sound business infrastructure to bring the drug to more patients." In addition to enabling Novartis to provide services for more patients with eye diseases, xiidra's additional business experience is expected to enable Novartis to better position the eye product pipeline currently under development Since vas Narasimhan became CEO of Novartis, a series of strategic acquisitions have been completed Most notable were the $8.7 billion purchase of avexis' zolgensma gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy and the $2.1 billion purchase of endocyte Novartis will spend about $10 billion a year building its portfolio, with a focus on late stage and commercial products, he said In addition to the big acquisitions, Narasimhan has been cutting back on assets that hinder development, hoping to continue to focus on those that could increase the range of new drug approvals expected this year References: 1 Takeda inks a pair of sales to Novartis and J & J for up to $5.7b, handling over 485 staffers 2 Novartis to acquire xiidra ®, expanding front of eye portfolio and strengthening leadership in eye care 3 Takeda simplies portfolio and accelerates deleveraging through two divisions