Daiichi Sankyo `Energetically' Seeking Cancer Deals, Biotech Partners

Daiichi Sankyo Co. is seeking deals to broaden the line of experimental cancer therapies it built with the purchase two years ago of German biotechnology company U3 Pharma AG.

“We’re still looking energetically for venture capital companies or biotechnology companies that could lead to acquisitions or partnerships,” said Reinhard Bauer, the company’s head of European operations, in a telephone interview yesterday.

Daiichi Sankyo will look for deals similar to the 150 million euro ($184.6 million) U3 Pharma acquisition, which brought it antibody treatments for breast, colon and lung cancers, Bauer said. The third-largest Japanese drugmaker doesn’t need revenue from acquisitions to meet its European sales target, he said.

The Tokyo-based company aims to increase sales in Europe more than 50 percent to 1.2 billion euros a year by the fiscal year ending in March 2013, driven by the hypertension drug Benicar and Effient blood thinner. Daiichi expects that operating income will increase more quickly than sales.

The experimental blood thinner edoxaban has the potential to bring more than $1 billion a year in sales, Bauer said. The final stage of clinical trials required for the company to submit the drug for regulatory approval in the U.S. will likely be completed next year, he said. The blood thinner would be a rival to Bayer AG’s Xarelto and to Pradaxa, a product from closely held German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH.

The Japanese drugmaker isn’t interested in buying existing products or in generic-drug acquisitions, Bauer said.

Daiichi Sankyo decided against acquiring German generic- drug maker Ratiopharm GmbH because pricing pressure in the country outweighs the appeal of the company’s brand name, he said. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. agreed to pay 3.63 billion euros for Ratiopharm in March.

To contact the reporter on this story: Naomi Kresge in Zurich at nkresge@bloomberg.net

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