Daiichi Sankyo takes on Japanese rights to CS-8958, a LANI co-developed with Biota

Australia's Biota Holdings says that Daiichi Sankyo, the co-owner of the long-acting neuraminidase inhibitor CS-8958, has signed a contract  to manufacture and market the product in Japan, pending the successful  completion of pivotal Phase III studies and approval. Biota, as one of  the owners, will receive an undisclosed royalty on sales and a number of  fixed-sum payments on the achievement of certain sales milestones in  Japan. All other key markets for the agent, including the USA, remain  available for licensing. The firms will share commercial returns from  licensing outside Japan. In 2003, Biota and Daiichi Sankyo merged their  respective LANI programs and Daiichi Sankyo retained the option to  manufacture and market CS-8958 in Japan in return for funding the  domestic trials. CS-8958 was discovered by Daiichi.