Orexigen, Takeda in marketing deal worth $1 bln for obesity drug

* Orexigen to get upfront cash payment of $50 mln

* Deal can pay Orexigen over $1 bln in milestone payments

* Takeda to market obesity drug in U.S., Mexico, Canada

* Cos to share costs of any future product development

* Orexigen shares up 28 pct pre-market

Sept 2 (Reuters) - Orexigen Therapeutics Inc (OREX.O) said it sold the North American marketing rights for its obesity drug to Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd (4502.T) for an upfront payment of $50 million and milestone payments of more than $1 billion.

Takeda will market the drug, Contrave, in the United States, Mexico and Canada, while San Diego-based Orexigen will retain the right to co-promote the drug in the United States.

Takeda will also pay tiered double-digit royalty to Orexigen on net sales of the drug in those areas.

According to the agreement, Orexigen and Takeda will work together on the ongoing development of the product, with Orexigen leading pre-approval activities and Takeda leading post-approval activities.

The companies will also share the costs of any future development of the product.

Orexigen's Contrave is a combination of antidepressant Wellbutrin, known generically as bupropion, and naltrexone, which is used to treat alcoholism and other addictions.

U.S health regulators have set Jan. 31, 2011 as the review date for the drug's approval. [ID:nSGE65G0F9]

Orexigen's shares, which have fallen 30 percent in the last six months, were up 28 percent at $5.90 in pre-market trade on Thursday. The stock closed at $4.59 Wednesday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Shravya Jain in Bangalore)