Amgen of Thousand Oaks, Calif., has agreed to acquire South San Francisco-based KAI Pharmaceuticals, a privately held pharmaceutical company.  KAI's lead product candidate, KAI-4169, is a novel agent being initially studied for the treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) who are on dialysis. Amgen will acquire worldwide rights, excluding Japan, to KAI-4169.

Amgen will pay $315 million in cash to acquire KAI, and has provided a loan to enable phase III clinical development planning for KAI-4169 prior to closing. The transaction has been approved by the stockholders of KAI and the board of directors of each company. Following completion of the transaction, KAI will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Amgen.

KAI-4169 is an innovative experimental therapy administered intravenously at the same time the patient is undergoing dialysis. The vast majority of CKD patients on dialysis are affected by SHPT, a component of CKD-MBD, which can lead to serious consequences.

"KAI has demonstrated encouraging results in the clinic. We are excited about acquiring KAI, as well as the opportunity to potentially deliver a novel therapy for chronic kidney disease patients on dialysis suffering from secondary hyperparathyroidism," said Sean E. Harper, M.D., executive vice president of R&D at Amgen.

"We are thrilled that Amgen shares our perspective on the differentiated profile and potential of this product candidate," said Steve James, president and CEO of KAI. "Amgen is ideally positioned to bring KAI-4169 to market and to patients, given the company's decades of experience in developing and delivering therapies for patients with chronic kidney disease."