LILLY AND TAKEDA TO COLLABORATE ON
NOVEL ORAL AGENT AND A FUTURE
PR Wire
May 26, 1998, 6:21 a.m. PT
Insulin Product for the Treatment of Diabetes
INDIANAPOLIS, May 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY)
and
Takeda Chemical Industries, Ltd., announced today that they have entered into
a marketing collaboration to copromote Takeda's novel insulin sensitivity
enhancer pioglitazone (pronounced "pie-oh-gli-tah-zone") and a future product
from the Lilly insulin portfolio in the United States. Pioglitazone has been
submitted for regulatory approval in Japan by Takeda and currently is in Phase
III clinical trials in the U.S. and Europe.
Pioneered by Takeda, the thiazolidinedione class of insulin sensitivity
enhancers - TZDs - represent a new treatment for patients with type 2 diabetes
because of the TZD's improved product profile and unique mechanism of action.
Upon approval, pioglitazone will enter the oral-agent category that had U.S.
sales of approximately $1.5 billion in 1997, with sales growing at an
estimated annual rate of more than 30 percent.
Under the collaboration, Lilly and Takeda will copromote Takeda's
pioglitazone, upon approval by the FDA to market it in the U.S., and a future
Lilly insulin prior to pioglitazone's approval. In doing so, Takeda will form
its own independent affiliate in the U.S. Both Lilly and Takeda will
primarily be compensated through a copromotion fee - a percentage of net sales
of the other party's respective product that is part of this collaboration.
"We are delighted to have this opportunity to work with Takeda because we
share a similar vision and commitment to innovation and globalization," said
Sidney Taurel, Lilly president and chief operating officer. "Takeda is a
highly respected pharmaceutical company throughout the world and will make an
excellent partner for this important marketing collaboration - which we want
to become a model for future alliances of this kind."
"We are very excited about teaming up with Lilly, a long-standing leader
in diabetes care," said Kunio Takeda, Takeda's president and chief executive
officer. "We want to develop this alliance into the most successful one in
history."
Today, worldwide costs for treating diabetes are estimated at more than
$200 billion annually, and it is estimated that, over the next decade, those
costs could double due to the related complications of diabetes, such as
kidney damage, limb amputation and problems with eyesight.
James A. Harper, president of Lilly's diabetes care and growth and
recovery products, said, "Lilly is aggressively pursuing a goal of being a
complete diabetes care company. We intend to provide innovative
pharmaceutical products that can treat all types and stages of diabetes
globally. This collaboration with Takeda fits well with Lilly's strategy."
Takeda is an R&D-oriented corporation specializing in pharmaceuticals and
is the largest pharmaceutical company in Japan. Its main ethical drug
products, leuprolide (GnRH analogue) and lansoprazole (proton pump inhibitor),
are marketed in more than 70 countries.
Lilly is a global research-based pharmaceutical corporation headquartered
in Indianapolis, Ind., that is dedicated to creating and delivering innovative
pharmaceutical-based health-care solutions which enable people to live longer,
healthier and more active lives. Diabetes is one of five therapeutic areas in
which the company is focusing its efforts.
This release contains forward-looking statements about the potential
clinical profile and commercial success of the investigational compound
pioglitazone. As with any pharmaceutical product, there are risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ. In particular, there
is no assurance that regulatory approvals will be obtained, that final
clinical trial results will be consistent with interim results to date, or
that patient and physician acceptance of the product will be achieved.
SOURCE Eli Lilly and Company
-0- 05/26/98
/CONTACT: Blair Austin of Eli Lilly, 317-277-5170/
/Company News On-Call: prnewswire.com or fax, 800-758-5804,
ext. 126236/
/Web site: lilly.com
(LLY)
CO: Eli Lilly and Company; Takeda Chemical Industries, Ltd.
ST: Indiana
IN: MTC
SU:
-0- (PRN) May/26/98 09:06
EOS (PRN) May/26/98 09:06 86
-0- (PRN) May/26/ 98 9:21 |
