Takeda stops developing drug for blood infection

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Asia's biggest drugmaker with operations in Deerfield, ended late-stage trials of a treatment for severe blood infections, saying the medication no longer fits its strategy.

The experimental compound, TAK-242, was in the last of three stages of clinical tests required before approval in Japan, the U.S. and Europe. The third phase began in July 2005, and Takeda won't elaborate on why the drug was pulled, said Seizo Masuda, a spokesman for the Osaka, Japan-based company.

"Based on the Phase III studies, we decided to discontinue," Masuda said today by telephone. The decision wasn't based on concerns related to safety or effectiveness, he said, declining to comment on when Takeda began developing the product or how much it had invested.

Takeda, which announced the plans after trading closed in Tokyo, was little changed at 3,950 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The stock has slumped 14 percent this year, compared with a 6 percent decline for the MSCI World Health-Care Index of 112 companies.