Xenon and Takeda in XEN401 licensing accord

Canada-based Xenon Pharmaceuticals and Japanese drugmaker Takeda say they have entered into an exclusive agreement to develop and commercialize the former's leading pain drug candidate, XEN401. The companies added that Takeda has agreed to purchase $5.0 million worth of stock in the Vancouver-headquartered firm.

Under the terms of the deal, Xenon has licensed exclusive rights to Takeda for the development and commercialization of oral formulations of the drug in Japan and certain Asian countries, in return for a $75.5 million upfront payment and developmental and sales milestones. The Japanese company will be responsible for funding all subsequent work in the licensed territories. In addition, it has an option to license some intermediate compounds identified during Xenon's development of XEN401.

Yasuchika Hasegawa, Takeda's president, said: "there is a genuine need for improved pain treatments and such treatments are strategically linked to Takeda's core therapeutic areas including diabetes oncology and bone/joint disease." Xenon said that it will continue to develop the drug for use in the treatment of pain, and added that it is currently carrying out preclinical assessments.