Takeda Pharmaceutical, a Japanese research-based pharmaceutical company, and Advinus Therapeutics, a privately held research-based pharmaceutical company based in India, have entered into an agreement to initiate a three-year discovery collaboration focused on novel targets for major therapeutic areas, including inflammation, CNS and metabolic diseases.

Takeda will receive worldwide commercial rights to drug candidates emerging from this alliance. Advinus will receive guaranteed research funding of $36 million over the term of the collaboration, $9 million in milestones leading to candidate selection and is eligible to receive future clinical and regulatory milestone payments of up to $45 million per product, plus royalties on product sales worldwide. Advinus is also responsible for leading the programs to create optimal IND-ready compounds for pre-defined targets.

"Advinus’ team is delighted that its biggest ever collaboration has been made possible by Takeda's visionary leadership, and their confidence in the founding principles that aim to create these new R&D opportunities," said Rashmi Barbhaiya, CEO of Advinus.

"Collaboration with Advinus is one of our initiatives to enhance our research productivity," said Paul Chapman, general manager, pharmaceutical research, Takeda. "We are very excited to partner with Advinus as they have innovative approaches to efficiently generate INDs that will further strengthen Takeda's drug discovery capabilities, while also enhancing our pipeline."