Orexigen Surges Most in More Than Year After Takeda Licenses Contrave Pill

Orexigen Therapeutic Inc. jumped the most in seven weeks after the company licensed its lead experimental drug, the diet pill Contrave, to Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.

Orexigen rose 84 cents, or 18 percent, to $5.43 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. Earlier, the stock surged 30 percent, the biggest increase since July 20, 2009, when the company reported data from three Contrave trials.

Takeda will jointly promote the medicine with San Diego- based Orexigen in the U.S., where a regulatory clearance decision is expected by Jan. 31, the companies said in a statement today. Contrave is the fourth obesity medicine Osaka- based Takeda has bought since 2004, as it seeks to counter an expected dip in sales when its best-selling Actos diabetes treatment goes off patent.

“Having a strong partner is very important, assuming a competitive field of obesity drugs,” said Joshua Schimmer, an analyst at Leerink Swann & Co., in a telephone interview today. “Takeda has great experience in the metabolic arena and gives them a much more broad-based opportunity to target their patient population.”

Orexigen is racing Vivus Inc., of Mountain View, California, and Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, to bring new weight-loss drugs to market. All three companies have drugs under Food and Drug Administration review this year.

Vivus, Arena

Vivus, the first in line, failed to win an FDA advisory panel’s backing of its Qnexa weight-loss drug in July. The panel is scheduled to review Arena’s lorcaserin Sept. 16 and tentatively slated to review Contrave Dec. 7. The FDA usually follows the recommendations of its advisers, though it’s not required.

Takeda, Asia’s biggest drugmaker, will make an initial payment of $50 million for the medicine and may pay more than $1 billion as the drug meets various goals. Takeda will have exclusive rights to sell the medicine in Canada and Mexico, the statement said.

The Japanese company is relying on treatments for metabolic and heart disease, cancer and brain disorders to counter the anticipated fall in revenue after Actos, the world’s best- selling diabetes medicine, loses patent protection in January 2011. Actos generated 384.7 billion yen ($4.58 billion), or 26 percent of Takeda’s overall revenue, in the 12 months ended March 31.

Acquired Rights

Takeda also acquired rights to Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. weight-loss drugs and bought Japanese rights to develop and sell Alizyme Plc’s obesity pill cetilistat, which was later sold to Norgine BV.

Eisai Co., based in Tokyo, agreed in July to partner with Arena on U.S. marketing of its diet pill lorcaserin.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kanoko Matsuyama in Tokyo at kmatsuyama2@bloomberg.net. Ellen Gibson in New York at egibson9@bloomberg.net;

• Tweet
• More
  • Business Exchange
  • Buzz up!
  • Digg
• Print
• Email