Platform, PKU asset drive Otsuka’s $800M takeout of Jnana

Otsuka is strengthening its Boston-area R&D presence with the addition of Jnana’s staff and discovery platform in an $800 million acquisition, which will give the pharma a small-molecule therapy for PKU headed into a registrational study.

The deal will position Jnana Therapeutics Inc. as a subsidiary of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. The pharma’s announcement of the deal suggested it will continue to use Jnana’s RAPID platform to create new therapies. Otsuka said Jnana’s discovery approach is complementary to that of Astex Pharmaceuticals, its U.K. subsidiary acquired in a 2013 deal...