Takeda – Finch Therapeutics drug development & commercialization deal for IBD molecule

Takeda is paying Finch Therapeutics $10 million upfront for exclusive, global rights to develop and commercialize the latter’s inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) candidate, FIN-524, together with rights to follow-on products for IBD indications.

Under terms of the deal, Finch will be eligible for undisclosed development, regulatory, and commercialization milestones, plus future tiered royalties. The firms have written-in the option to extend their collaboration to other, related indications.

FIN-524 is a live microbial cocktail that Massachusetts-based Finch is taking through preclinical development for treating ulcerative colitis. The candidate has been developed using the firm’s human-first discovery platform, which uses machine learning algorithms to analysis clinical datasets from ulcerative colitis patients who have undergone fecal transplantation, and identify promising therapeutic strains.