Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (Ironwood ) and Astellas Pharma have entered into an agreement providing Astellas exclusive rights to develop and commercialise the investigational compound linaclotide in Japan, Indonesia, Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand.
Linaclotide is currently in Phase 3 clinical development in the US for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) and chronic constipation. Under the terms of the agreement, Astellas would pay Ironwood $75m in upfront and precommercial milestones, including a $30m licensing fee, as well as escalating royalties on linaclotide sales.
Astellas is expected to lead clinical development in Japan and be responsible for all activities and expenses relating to clinical development, regulatory approval, and commercialisation in the above mentioned territory.
Masafumi Nogimori, president and CEO of Astellas, said: “We are pleased to initiate a great partnership with Ironwood. This collaboration fits well with our existing gastrointestinal franchise in Japan, and I’m excited to deliver linaclotide to the Asian territory. I strongly believe that Astellas will maximise the potential product value of linaclotide with our proven capabilities.”
Peter Hecht, CEO of Ironwood, said: “This collaboration continues Ironwood’s strategy to form partnerships to develop and commercialise linaclotide in the top three pharmaceutical markets: the US, Europe, and Japan, while enabling Ironwood to retain potentially fifty percent of the long-term global value of linaclotide in those key regions, should linaclotide meet our sales expectations. Astellas has strong capabilities for delivering linaclotide to patients in its territory and we look forward to collaborating with them.”