Ardelyx and Kyowa Kirin expand drug development partnership

Kyowa Kirin has announced an expansion of its collaboration with specialised biotech Ardelyx regarding the latter’s novel cardiorenal-focused therapies. The expansion of their partnership involves two agreements. The first is a two-year research collaboration involving two of Ardelyx’s ongoing programmes for two undisclosed targets. As per the terms of the agreement, Kyowa Kirin will pay $10m to support these efforts and will have the option to license any candidates chosen for further development and commercialisation in certain geographic areas. If the Japanese company chooses to go down the licensing route, Ardelyx will be eligible for up to $10.5m in upfront payments and up to $500m in milestone payments. The second is a $20m equity investment from Kyowa Kirin into Ardelyx – this represents $6.96 for almost 3 million shares in the biotech. The two companies initially signed a licensing agreement in November 2017 where Kyowa Kirin gained exclusive rights to Ardelyx’s lead product, tenapanor (KHK7791), for various cardiorenal indications in Japan, including hyperphosphatemia.