Teva and Takeda Sign Japanese Marketing Agreement for Parkinson’s Treatment

Japanese drugmaker Takeda has signed a licensing agreement to submit a Japanese New Drug Application for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries’ rasagiline tablets for Parkinson’s disease. Japan had roughly between 150,000 and 180,000 Parkinson’s disease patients as of 2011, Takeda says.

Rasagiline, known globally as Azilect, is a monoamine oxidase B inhibitor that is believed to lessen the disease’s motor symptoms by increasing synaptic dopamine in the brain. Teva said it first received approvals for the drug in Israel and Europe in 2005, and that now it is approved in more than 40 countries. Rasagiline treats signs and symptoms of Parkinson’s disease as an initial monotherapy or in combination with levodopa in later stages. The FDA approved the drug in 2006.

This is not Teva’s first Japanese licensing deal. In December, the Israeli drugmaker signed an agreement giving Takeda the Japanese marketing rights to its multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone (glatiramer acetate).

Both drugs have seen their share of conflict in recent years.

Late last year, a New Jersey judge overruled Mylan’s claim that Teva’s Azilect patent was invalid for obviousness. In February, Teva came under scrutiny for potential False Claims Act marketing violations of both Azilect and Copaxone; the latter currently is involved in a U.S. Supreme Court patent case that may see generic versions hitting the market as soon as next month. — Lena Freund

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