Takeda licenses Zejula in deal that will see Tesaro supply it with API

Takeda has agreed to pay $100m (€85m) upfront for rights to make and sell to Tesaro Inc’s drug Zejula in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Russia and Australia.

The license permits Takeda's subsidiary Millennium Pharmaceuticals to sell the drug in Japan for all indications and in the other countries for everything except prostate cancer

It requires that Takeda pay milestones up to a value of $240m as well as royalties on sales.

The agreement will also see Tesaro supply Takeda with the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) – niraparib - and the finished product.

News of the deal comes a few days after Tesaro signed a long time drug intermediates manufacturing and supply contract with STA, the China-based small molecule subsidiary of WuXi AppTec.

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Zejula (niraparib) is a small molecule poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase, or PARP, inhibitor designed to treat a range of cancers.

It was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in March for the treatment of epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer.

In May, Tesaro reported that 500 Zejula prescriptions had been written, with a year’s worth of the drug costing $117,000 (€100,368).

Tesaro filed the drug in Europe last October.

The drug is not approved for use in Japan, South Korea, Russia, Taiwan or Australia.

A Tesaro spokeswoman told us "Takeda will file in the countries where they have licensed niraparib."