BRIEF—Kaken partners with Axcelead and Spruce

Japanese drugmaker Kaken Pharmaceutical has announced a partnership with Axcelead Drug Discovery Partners to speed up novel drug discovery.

Kaken expects the partnership will largely improve its R&D in three focused areas - immunotherapy, neuroscience and infectious diseases.

The Tokyo-based biotech is keen to enrich its pipeline.

On January 5, it inked a licensing deal with Spruce Biosciences to bring Spruce's asset - tildacerfont, which treats congenial adrenal hyperplasia - to Japan.

Axcelead is a pre-clinical research company that was initially a spinoff from Takeda in 2017.

The company, which is based in Kanakawa prefecture, has many Japanese pharmas as its clients, including Eisai and Daiichi Sangyo.