US PE firm leads $41m round for Japan's Takeda

Adams Street Partners, healthcare-focused Vivo Capital and Danish venture capital firm Novo A/S also participated in the round.

According to a statement, each investor will be represented on the board of a newly launched biopharmaceutical company called Outpost Medicine. Outpost will commercialize Takeda's clinical-stage treatment for stress urinary incontinence. This condition has no approved pharmacological treatment in the US where it afflicts 18 million adults.

"With Takeda strengthening its focus around the core therapeutic areas of oncology, gastroenterology and central nervous system diseases, it is important that we seek alternatives to further develop and create value around promising assets that lay outside these areas of focus," Takeda chief medical and scientific officer Andrew Plump said. "The formation of Outpost represents an innovative partnership arrangement to further advance one such asset in hopes of bringing a new treatment to patients in need."

Takeda traces its corporate history to 1781 and focuses on growth through product development and expansion into emerging markets. It has 30,000 employees and markets products in about 100 countries. Net sales in Japan alone were JPY553.2 billion ($4.9 billion) in financial 2014. In 2013, it purchased Singapore biopharmaceutical start-up Inviragen in a $250 million deal.

Founded in 1991, Frazier has more than $2.8 billion in committed capital and has made investments in over 170 healthcare companies. It targets profitable companies focusing on healthcare services, pharmaceutical services, medical products and related areas.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Healthcare
• Early-stage
• Japan
• Adams Street Partners
• Vivo Ventures