By the Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. surged Thursday after the drugmaker said it signed a $1 billion co-development agreement for its experimental obesity drug Contrave with Takeda Pharmaceuticals.
Under the deal, Orexigen will receive $50 million upfront from Takeda, Japan's largest drugmaker. Takeda will get exclusive rights to market Contrave in the U.S., Mexico and Canada and Orexigen will keep co-marketing rights in the U.S. The California drugmaker will be eligible for payments of up to $1 billion for certain milestones along with royalty payments. The Food and Drug Administration is expected to make a regulatory decision on Contrave by Jan. 31.
Orexigen shares jumped 84 cents, or 18.3 percent, to close Thursday at $5.43 on seven times average daily volume.
''We believe the deal terms provide significant opportunity for Orexigen shareholders to benefit from the commercial success of Contrave and view Takeda as a strong partner that can capture significant share in the anti-obesity market,'' JMP Securities analyst Charles Duncan wrote in a note to clients.
More
By Bruce Bigelow
San Diego’s life sciences companies continued to raise big money, which is a good thing, since a survey shows that venture funding for biotech and medical device companies accounted for more than 80 of all second-quarter VC deals in San Diego. We’ve rounded up all that and more for you here:
—An expert panel that advises the FDA voted 10-6 against approving an obesity drug developed by Mountain View, CA-based Vivus (NASDAQ: VVUS), saying the negative effects outweighed the weight-loss benefits. After the ruling, shares of San Diego’s Arena Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARNA) climbed toward its 52-week high of $5.93 a share, but San Diego-based Orexigen Therapeutics (NASDAQ: OREX) continued to trade around $4 a share. Both San Diego biotechs are developing obesity drugs of their own.
More