Amgen completes KAI Pharmaceuticals takeover

Amgen has finalised its $315 million (202.63 million pounds) acquisition of KAI Pharmaceuticals, as originally announced in April 2012.

KAI Pharmaceuticals is a San Francisco-based healthcare business that is currently developing a lead product candidate called KAI-4169, a treatment for secondary hyperparathyroidism in patients with chronic kidney disease who are on dialysis.

The drug is designed to be administered intravenously at the same time as the dialysis therapy and has already demonstrated strong promise in phase IIa clinical studies carried out by KAI.

Following the acquisition, Amgen will gain the global rights to commercialise KAI-4169 in all territories excluding Japan, with a loan to be provided in order to support phase III development of the drug.

Commenting on the deal earlier this year, Steve James, president and chief executive officer of KAI, said: "Amgen is ideally positioned to bring KAI-4169 to market and to patients, given the company's decades of experience in developing and delivering therapies for patients with chronic kidney disease."