OREANDA-NEWS. Maruho Co., Ltd and Astellas Pharma Inc. announce today that they have entered into an exclusive license agreement for a novel, Janus Kinase (JAK) inhibitor developed by Astellas (INN: peficitinib, development code: ASP015K) for treatment in the skin disease area by topical formulation.

Under this agreement, Astellas gives Maruho worldwide, exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize topical formulation of peficitinib for treatment in the skin disease area. In return, Maruho will pay Astellas an up-front payment at the time of the execution of the agreement and will also pay milestone payments upon the achievement of certain development milestones. Astellas is further entitled to receive royalty payments on net sales of the product developed by Maruho. Maruho will conduct further development, production and commercialization alone and bear all costs associated.

All rights other than those for topical formulations for skin diseases are retained by Astellas.