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Takeda and Cour Partner to Develop Novel Therapies for Celiac Disease and Other Gastrointestinal Diseases

December 8, 2015

Takeda and Cour Partner to Develop Novel Therapies for Celiac Disease and Other Gastrointestinal Diseases

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The following press release explains a new partnership that is looking to develop a pharmaceutical treatment for celiac disease.

Note:Beyond Celiac is proud to note that representatives from both Takeda Pharmaceutical Company and Cour Pharmaceutical Development Company, Inc. participated in our 2015 Research Summit. This meeting was specifically designed to bring patients and thought leaders in the field together for one common goal: helping people with celiac disease to live better, longer. Read on for exciting news about a partnership between Takeda and Cour to develop new treatment options for celiac disease.


Osaka, Japan, December 8, 2015, and Chicago, Ill., December 7, 2015 – Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE: 4502) and Cour Pharmaceutical Development Company, Inc. today announced a partnership to research and develop novel immune modulating therapies for the potential treatment of celiac disease. The partnership will focus on using nanotechnologies based on Cour’s Tolerizing Immune Modifying nanoParticle (TIMP) platform, which can be extended to certain autoimmune and allergic conditions by inhibiting the abnormal immune responses that cause disease, without affecting the beneficial parts of the immune system.

The collaboration will explore the potential of TIMP therapy to allow celiac patients to tolerate gluten in their diet. The TIMPs, developed in cooperation with Northwestern University researchers, consist of a proprietary polymer and antigenic proteins, which are fully encapsulated for safety and administered intravenously. The TIMP compounds target the underlying cause of celiac disease by systemically targeting and controlling, gluten-reactive T-cells in patients, as opposed to broad immunosuppression.

Cour will receive upfront and success based milestone payments from Takeda leading to an exclusive option to acquire a global license to the TIMP-GLIA program after the completion of the Phase 2a clinical trial. Cour will also receive royalties on sales of any successful commercialized products resulting from the partnership. Takeda will also have the option to collaborate on up to three additional TIMP compounds each with development, regulatory, and sales milestones and royalties on sales. Further details of the agreement were not disclosed.

“As a global leader in gastroenterology, Takeda is committed to the discovery and development of treatments and products to improve the health of patients with gastrointestinal disorders,” said Dr. Gareth Hicks, head of Takeda’s Gastroenterology Drug Discovery Unit. “In line with our GI drug discovery unit’s focus on building partnerships with groups developing highly novel therapeutic approaches to the treatment of GI diseases, we are excited to initiate this significant collaboration with Cour to create potential new and innovative therapies to meet the substantially unmet needs of these patients.”

“Cour is very pleased to be partnering with Takeda, and our collaboration marks an important breakthrough in the development of therapies for patients suffering from celiac disease,” said John J. Puisis, CEO and co-founder of Cour. “Takeda is the ideal partner based on the company’s strong foundation in gastroenterology and expertise in the discovery and development of therapies meeting unmet needs in patients suffering from gastrointestinal diseases.”

About Cour Pharmaceutical Development Company
Cour is a private development stage company harnessing the power of nano-biotechnology to create novel therapeutics addressing difficult to treat immune diseases. Cour combines world-recognized leadership in immunology, bioengineering, and pharmaceuticals to address significant unmet medical needs in autoimmune, allergy and inflammatory disease. Cour’s Tolerizing Immune Modifying nanoParticle (TIMP) platform creates a unique opportunity to address difficult to treat diseases such as celiac disease and food allergies. The TIMP platform is the result of a partnership between Cour and Northwestern University, where Cour, Dr. Stephen Miller, and Dr. Lonnie Shea combined their respective expertise in immunology and material science to create this pioneering new technology.

Additional information about Cour is available through its corporate website, http://www.courpharma.com

About Takeda
Located in Osaka, Japan, Takeda (TSE: 4502) is a research-based global company with its main focus on pharmaceuticals. As the largest pharmaceutical company in Japan and one of the global leaders of the industry, Takeda is committed to strive towards better health for people worldwide through leading innovation in medicine.

Additional information about Takeda is available through its corporate website, www.takeda.com.

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