BRIEF—Takeda exercises option on Denali candidate

Japanese pharma major Takeda Pharmaceutical has taken the next step in its collaboration with San Franciscan neuroscience company Denali Therapeutics, exercising an option on a progranulin replacement therapy, DNL593.

Takeda has opted to co-develop and co-commercialize the investigational, intravenously administered candidate, for the treatment of frontotemporal dementia-granulin.

The move advances a collaboration between the firms, agreed in January 2018, in which Takeda acquired options on three programs.

Denali will receive an option fee and is eligible for milestone payments. The companies will share development and commercialization costs equally, as well as profits.

Denali chief executive Ryan Watts said: “Pending acceptance of regulatory submissions, DNL593 will be the sixth therapeutic candidate from our broad pipeline, and our second Transport Vehicle-enabled molecule, in clinical development.”