Takeda splashes out on Crohn's disease drug candidate

French biotech firm Enterome Bioscience has entered into a global licensing, co-development and co-promotion agreement with Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical (TYO: 4502).

The agreement covers Enterome’s lead investigational drug candidate EB8018 in patients with Crohn’s disease, with the potential to expand to other gastrointestinal (GI) disorders and liver diseases.

“We are delighted to sign this agreement for EB8018, our most advanced candidate that represents a non-antibiotic, non-steroidal, non-immunomodulatory approach for the treatment of GI disorders including Crohn’s disease,”said Pierre Belichard, chief executive of Enterome. “We believe we have a world-class partner in Takeda to deliver the best development and commercialization strategy for EB8018 based on their extensive expertise and focus in Crohn’s disease and GI disorders. We are very excited about the potential of EB8018 and look forward to deepening our relationship with Takeda as we advance this novel candidate through clinical development.”