Eisai exercises option to buy AkaRx, for $255, along with rights to thrombocytopenia drug AKR-501

Japanese drug major Eisai has said it will initiate procedures to acquire New Jersey, USA-based AkaRx under a deal valuing the business at $255 million and making it a wholly-owned subsidiary of its US affiliate. Eisai obtained the right to buy AkaRx after it acquired MGI Pharma in January last year for $3.9 billion.

Eisai said it had decided to exercise that option as well as the exclusive rights to develop, market and manufacture AKR-501, a therapeutic agent for thrombocytopenia, a side-effect of chemotherapy.

As a result of the deal, Eisai said it now expects to post group net profit of 40.3 billion yen ($449 million) for the year to March 31, 2010, down from a prior forecast of 63 billion yen, but has kept its sales projection for the period unchanged at 820 billion yen.