Astellas agrees to buy Belgian drug company for $853m
Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma will acquire Ogeda, a Belgian drug discovery company, which is developing a drug called fezolinetant to treat menopause-related hot flushes and night sweats. The drug maker is expected to buy the company for about $533m, but could pay Ogeda shareholders another $320m if fezolinetant reaches clinical development and regulatory milestones, it said in an announcement. Pending approval from relevant regulatory authorities, the deal is expected to be finalised in the second quarter of 2017.
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Astellas Pharma Inc., which has its U.S. headquarters in Northbrook, has struck a deal valued at as much as $853 million to acquire a Belgium-based pharmaceutical company that's developing a drug to treat menopause-related hot flashes and night sweats.

Tokyo-based Astellas announced Sunday evening that it has agreed to buy Ogeda SA, a private drug discovery company. Astellas will pay about $533 million for the company upfront and could pay Ogeda shareholders another $320 million if the nonhormonal drug, called fezolinetant, reaches certain clinical development and regulatory milestones.

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The deal is expected to be finalized in the second quarter of 2017, pending regulatory approval.

When asked what effect, if any, the deal might have on Astellas' Northbrook offices, spokesman Tyler Marciniak said in an email Sunday evening that the company was not yet ready to announce details of its integration plan.

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"The transaction fits with our strategy to deliver innovative drugs in therapeutic areas with high unmet medical needs," said Yoshihiko Hatanaka, Astellas' president and CEO, in a news release.

The news comes less than six months after Astellas announced it was buying Ganymed Pharmaceuticals, a German biopharmaceutical company, in a deal worth up to $1.4 billion. The Ganymed acquisition closed in December.

Astellas' top-selling drug is Xtandi, used to treat prostate cancer.

lschencker@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @lschencker