Astellas will acquire all outstanding shares of
The buyout is the company's latest effort to strengthen its drug development capabilities through mergers and acquisitions, following its recent purchases of
The drug awaiting approval will be "the third pillar" of the Japanese company's product portfolio to drive growth, along with cancer drug Padcev and fezolinetant, a treatment under development for vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause, Astellas President
Sales of the drug for macular degeneration are expected to make up for the decline in sales of the prostate cancer drug Xtandi when its patent expires in the late 2020s.
"There are extremely high unmet medical needs" for age-related macular degeneration, Okamura said. "(The new drug) will make our portfolio more powerful."
The acquisition will strengthen Astellas' research and development of ophthalmology drugs and help the company achieve its sales goal of over
The Japanese company plans to secure the purchase funds of about
==Kyodo
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