ProThera Biologics and Takeda collaboration on IAIP therapy

Privately-held US firm ProThera Biologics and Japan’s largest drugmaker Takeda (TYO: 4502) have entered into a global licensing agreement to develop a novel plasma-derived Inter-alpha Inhibitor Proteins (IAIP) therapy for the treatment of acute inflammatory conditions.

“We believe ProThera's expertise in IAIP technology represents a potentially powerful opportunity to explore the untapped potential of plasma in order to address challenging rare and complex diseases," commented Dr Chris Morabito, Takeda's head of R&D, Plasma-Derived Therapies Business Unit. "Leveraging this potent technology using our deep expertise and robust dedicated plasma infrastructure, this collaboration reflects our patient-centered R&D efforts and could represent an important new avenue to deliver meaningful innovation to patient populations in need,” he explained.

“Our goal is to successfully treat patients with severe inflammatory conditions and this is now possible through our alliance with Takeda," said Denice Spero, president and chief business officer of ProThera, adding: "Takeda's R&D expertise is well aligned with the potential uses of our Inter-alpha Inhibitor technology. We are delighted that Takeda and ProThera are collaborating and that Takeda shares our enthusiasm for tackling unmet medical needs."