Takeda Pharma To Acquire Envoy Therapeutics

Takeda’s subsidiary, Takeda America Holdings is set to acquire Envoy for up to US$140 million in cash.

AsianScientist (Nov. 19, 2012) – Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Takeda America Holdings, Inc. is set to acquire Envoy Therapeutics Inc. this month.

Under the agreement, Takeda America Holdings will acquire 100 percent of the equity in Envoy for total consideration of up to US$140 million, which includes an up-front payment and progress-dependent, preclinical milestone payments.

Envoy is a privately-held drug discovery company focused on finding new drugs with superior efficacy and fewer side effects than existing treatments. The company’s proprietary bacTRAP technology® combines innovative genetic engineering with molecular biology techniques for labeling and extracting the protein-making components of specific types of cells.

Takeda’s corporate venture arm, Takeda Ventures, Inc. (TVI), participated in Envoy’s series A financing in October 2009.

The acquisition of Envoy provides Takeda with proprietary bacTRAP technology, know-how, materials, datasets, and analysis techniques enabling the identification of novel targets expressed in disease-relevant cell populations. In addition, Takeda gains access to Envoy’s pre-clinical CNS assets including programs for Parkinson’s disease and Cognitive Impairment Associated with Schizophrenia (CIAS).

“Since our initial investment in 2009, it has been clear to us that Envoy’s scientific excellence in combination with their vision for the utilization of bacTRAP technology have great potential to create and explore truly innovative targets across multiple therapeutic areas,” said Dr. Paul Chapman, General Manager of Pharmaceutical Research Division at Takeda.

Takeda plans to continue operating Envoy in Jupiter, Florida through March 2013, and thereafter intends to transfer the majority of the Envoy scientific staff and management team to Takeda California in San Diego as a part of Takeda Pharmaceuticals Research Division.

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Source: Takeda.
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