Furiex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: FURXV) today confirmed that Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited has received pricing approval for NESINA® (alogliptin) in Japan. NESINA, a highly selective DPP-4 inhibitor for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, received regulatory approval from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare on April 16, 2010. Furiex collaborated with Takeda to develop this product.
“Receiving pricing approval for NESINA in Japan represents another important milestone for both NESINA and Furiex”
Under the agreement with Takeda, upon receipt of both regulatory and pricing approvals, Furiex is entitled to receive a $7.5 million milestone payment from Takeda.
"Receiving pricing approval for NESINA in Japan represents another important milestone for both NESINA and Furiex," said June Almenoff, M.D., Ph.D., president and chief medical officer of Furiex. "This approval confirms our strategy of developing innovative clinical development partnerships to bring new medicines to market."
PPD, a leading global contract research organization, plans to complete the spin-off of its compound partnering business as Furiex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., on June 14, at which point Furiex will operate as an independent, publicly traded company. Its common stock began trading on a "when issued" basis on May 28, 2010, on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol FURXV. The common stock is expected to begin "regular way" trading under the ticker symbol FURX at the start of trading on June 15, 2010.
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