Daiichi Sankyo acquires US cancer drug firm Plexxikon

Japanese pharmaceutical major Daiichi Sankyo Company Ltd has signed a deal to acquire privately- held US drug firm Plexxikon Inc for approximately $935 million, stepping up the company's foray into the oncology market.

Berkeley, California-based Plexxikon possess a late-stage oncology product, PLX4032 in its drugs portfolio, along with a promising pipeline and technology platform.

The total consideration includes $805 million in cash and additional potential payments of approximately $130 million based on near-term milestones with respect to the launch of the cancer drug PLX4032.

Daiichi Sankyo CEO Joji Nakayama said, ''The acquisition of Plexxikon not only accelerates our entry into the oncology market but strengthens our pipeline and will enable us to achieve our mid- and long-term business objectives of providing world-class, innovative pharmaceuticals in core areas of unmet medical need.''

As part of the deal, Daiichi Sankyo obtains certain co-promotion rights in the US for the drug, which is being developed jointly by Plexxikon and Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche.

Interim results from phase-III trial of PLX4032, a B-raf enzyme inhibitor, met co-primary endpoints of overall survival and progression-free survival among patients with previously untreated metastatic melanoma, a serious form of skin cancer.