Osaka, Japan-based Takeda and Somerville, Mass.-based Finch Therapeutics entered into a global collaboration agreement to develop FIN-524, a synthetic microbiome therapy for inflammatory bowel disease.
Here's what you should know.
1. FIN-524 is a live biotherapeutic product in preclinical research. It consists of strains linked to favorable clinical outcomes in microbiota transplantation studies.
2. Takeda paid $10 million to obtain the rights to develop and commercialize the drugs. Finch has additional milestone-based benefits.
3. Finch CEO Mark Smith, PhD, said in a release, "Takeda's deep GI expertise and recent success in bringing therapies to IBD patients complements our own expertise in microbiome engineering."
4. Takeda's Head of Gastroenterology Drug Discovery Gareth Hicks, PhD, said Takeda partners with scientists and companies to develop new therapeutic options to patients.