Takeda Breaks Off Five-year Pact With Microbiome Partner, Handing Back Two Preclinical Drugs

When Takeda first partnered up with Finch Therapeutics in 2017, the Japanese pharma put on the map what was still a very early-stage microbiome player aiming to capitalize on the idea that you could reap the benefits of fecal transplants with an oral pill — and its preclinical program for inflammatory bowel disease.

Over the next few years, Takeda rejigged the alliance a few times, getting its hands on a second drug, taking more responsibility for development and manufacturing, and later tapping Finch to conduct more feasibility work.

But Takeda is now walking away from it all.

Finch said its pharma partner has decided to terminate their collaboration, effective this November. As a result, the biotech will regain global rights to FIN-524 (previously TAK-524, for ulcerative colitis) and FIN-525 (for Crohn’s disease).

Both programs, which contain specific bacteria strains Finch deemed crucial in treating disease, remain preclinical, although Finch had originally hoped that FIN-524 would reach the clinic within two and a half to three years.

“We are grateful for Takeda’s substantial investment in the FIN-524 and FIN-525 programs and want to thank our dedicated colleagues at Takeda who have worked alongside us to develop these innovative product candidates,” CEO Mark Smith said in a statement.

He added that Finch will explore new collaboration opportunities for these assets.

Internally, Finch has been focusing its efforts on CP101, its “complete consortia” microbiome capsule for recurrent C. difficile infections. Despite a brief clinical hold due to manufacturing concerns, the biotech is knee-deep in a critical Phase III trial that may pave the way toward its first approval.

Like many biotechs hunkering down for the biotech downturn, Finch took to layoffs earlier this year to conserve cash. Its stock is languishing at $2.64, down about 75% from the beginning of the year.

On top of the $10 million cash Takeda handed over in 2017, Finch has received $4 million in milestone payments and more than $30 million in R&D reimbursement during the collaboration.

Now that the deal is winding down, Takeda is also giving Finch all the data and intellectual property generated, including “full rights to a large library of characterized bacterial isolates, data from multiple ex vivo and in vivo studies, a suite of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic assays, and a significant body of chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) data generated during the investigational new drug (IND)-enabling phase of development.”

“We are currently conducting a review of our portfolio and assessing the financial and strategic impact of the discontinuation of our collaboration with Takeda,” Smith said.

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