Asahi Kasei Pharma has acquired Artisan Pharma Inc., establishing it as a wholly-owned subsidiary.
As part of the acquisition, Artisan has changed its name to Asahi Kasei Pharma America Corp. (AKP America). The transaction establishes a United States presence for Asahi Kasei Pharma and provides access to the global development and commercialization of ART-123 (recombinant human thrombomodulin alpha) in severe sepsis patients with coagulopathy. ART-123 targets both anti-coagulant and systemic anti-inflammatory pathways and is approved for marketing in Japan for the treatment of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC).
Asahi Kasei Pharma established Artisan Pharma (AKP America) in 2006 with several venture capital firms, licensing ART-123 to Artisan for global development.
Naoyuki Ono joined the company as president and chief executive officer, while Inder Kaul, MD remains as president of Product Development and chief medical officer. AKP America will be hiring up to 25 employees in the Boston area over the next few months to support product development efforts.
“With the support of our parent company, AKP America plans to initiate a large, multi-country Phase 3 trial of ART-123 in 2012, following positive results from the Phase 2b study, the results of which we plan to release in 2012,” says Ono.
“We have been impressed by the sales of ART-123 (Recomodulin) in the Japanese market since launch in 2008, and we look forward to completing development for the global markets, including the United States,” says Kazuyoshi Hori, MD, senior executive officer and board member of Asahi Kasei Pharma.
Release Date: Nov. 22, 2011
Source: Asahi Kasei Pharma America
