Takeda pays milestone fee to Affymax following Omontys approval

Takeda has paid a milestone fee of $50 million (31.57 million pounds) to partner Affymax as part of their development agreement for the kidney disease therapy Omontys.

The payment has been made following the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) recent decision to approve the injection-based therapy as a treatment for symptomatic anaemia associated with chronic kidney disease among adult patients on dialysis.

Affymax and Takeda have been participating in an exclusive global agreement to collaborate on the development and commercialisation of Omontys since 2006.

Both companies will be jointly involved in marketing the drug in the US, while Takeda holds sole rights to Omontys in international territories.

The treatment has also been accepted for regulatory review by the European Medicines Agency, with a $5 million milestone payment having been triggered following the acceptance of the marketing authorisation application in February 2012.

Earlier this month, Takeda joined the Structural Genomics Consortium, a move that will see it working with other leading pharmaceutical companies to develop innovative medicines over the coming years.