Sosei puts drug assets up for sale or licensing as it closes down UK R&D

Licensing opportunities

Following a restructuring, Sosei Group Corporation has put up for sale or licensing the assets it acquired when it bought the UK biotech Arakis Ltd for £106.5 million in July 2005.

The Tokyo-based company is closing down its UK operations in Chesterford, Essex, after hitting problems with the development of the lead product AD923 and finding itself unable to raise any new money given the current state of the markets.   

Among the products on offer are AD923, a formulation of the painkiller fentanyl administered under the tongue, which is in Phase III. Development is currently on hold because of problems with the device for administering the drug.

Sosei also wants to outlicense all the other assets generated in the UK, retaining rights in Asian markets, and to sell its drug discovery facilities.