Japan’s Astellas agrees to acquire Belgian firm Ogeda for EUR800m

Ogeda is engaged in the discovery and development of small molecule drugs that target G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs).

Under the deal, Astellas will pay around €500m for 100% equity in Ogeda. 

In addition, Astellas will also pay about €300m for Ogeda shareholders based on the achievement of certain clinical development and regulatory milestones for fezolinetant.

The company's investigational candidate fezolinetant (ESN364) is currently in phase 2 clinical development to treat women’s health disorders.

Ogeda has presented fezolinetant’s positive data from a phase 2a trial for the non-hormonal treatment of menopause-related vasomotor symptoms (MR-VMS).

The study met its primary endpoints, showing significant improvement by fezolinetant compared against placebo in 80 menopausal women suffering from MR-VMS or HF.

The company has additional small molecules targeting GPCRs in pre-clinical development in multiple therapeutic areas such as inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

Subject to certain conditions, the deal is expected to complete in the second quarter of this year.

Astellas president and CEO Yoshihiko Hatanaka said: “The transaction fits with our strategy to deliver innovative drugs in therapeutic areas with high unmet medical needs. Ogeda has been pioneering the development of a NK3 receptor antagonist fezolinetant for the treatment of MR-VMS.

Ogeda CEO Jean Combalbert said: “We welcome the acquisition by Astellas and look forward to developing fezolinetant, first non-hormonal treatment of Hot Flashes (HF)/ MR-VMS, inside a leading global pharmaceutical company.

“With its strong development and commercialization capabilities, resources and vision, I am convinced that Astellas will be able to turn fezolinetant promising clinical results into near-term value for patients.”

Image: Astellas Pharma to acquire Belgium-based Ogeda. Photo: courtesy of adamr / FreeDigitalPhotos.net.