Otsuka to acquire Visterra for CKD treatment and other therapies

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has agreed to acquire antibody therapies maker Visterra Inc. for approximately $430 million in an all-cash transaction.

“I am highly gratified that Visterra’s exceptional antibody platform technology, promising pipeline and talented researchers will join up with Otsuka. By collaborating and reinforcing each other’s culture, human ingenuity and technology, we hope to help fulfill Visterra’s promise as a powerful new drug creation engine and expand Otsuka’s research horizons,” said Tatsuo Higuchi, president and representative director of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., in a company press release.

Visterra’s Hierotope platform, comprised of novel computational and experimental technologies, enables the design and engineering of precision antibody-based therapies that specifically bind to, and modulate, disease targets that are not adequately addressed by current technologies in antibody therapeutics, the company said. Visterra’s pipeline includes programs targeting IgA nephropathy and other kidney diseases, cancer, chronic pain and infectious diseases. Otsuka’s research areas are in psychiatric and neurological diseases, hematological cancers and kidney, cardiovascular and infectious diseases.

“This transaction affirms the power of Visterra’s novel technology platform, the promise of our product candidates, and the value our employees and shareholders have created. Our two companies share a common culture of creativity and innovation, and commitment to patients with kidney diseases, cancer and other hard-to-treat diseases,” said Brian J. G. Pereira, MD, CEO of Visterra.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter.

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