Takeda wagers $1 billion on viral cancer therapies deal

In a second licensing deal signed by the Japanese pharma major this week, Takeda Pharmaceuticals (TYO: 4502) has entered into a billion-dollar deal with privately-held Canadian biotech Turnstone Biologics to develop multiple products from its proprietary vaccinia virus platform targeting a broad range of cancer indications.

The companies will advance Turnstone’s lead program, RIVAL-01, through a worldwide co-development and co-commercialization partnership and will also conduct collaborative discovery efforts to identify additional novel product candidates based on the vaccinia virus platform for future independent development.

Earlier this week, Takeda signed a deal with Cerevance, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company advancing new medicines for brain disease, worth $170 million to the UK firm.