Takeda to pay Abbott up to $1.5 billion in venture split

TOKYO (Reuters) - Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd (4502.T) said on Thursday it may pay Abbott Laboratories (ABT.N) up to $1.5 billion under a deal to split their U.S. joint venture as the Japanese drug maker will gain the rights to the more attractive parts of the business.

The two companies plan to split their 50-50 venture, TAP Pharmaceutical Products, with Japan's biggest drug maker obtaining the blockbuster heartburn and ulcer drug Prevacid and Abbott getting prostate cancer drug Lupron.

"We may pay Abbott up to $1.5 billion although the actual amount will depend on Prevacid 2008 sales and the progress of products in the pipeline," said Takeda spokesman Seizo Masuda.

TAP had sales last year of about $3 billion from Prevacid and Lupron, with Prevacid accounting for revenue of about $2.3 billion.

Prevacid is expected to face generic competition by late 2009 but the venture's newer ulcer and heartburn medicine, if approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, would enjoy patent protection for years to come. Takeda will also gain the rights to a treatment for gout, which is awaiting approval.

Lupron is not expected to face generic competition until 2015, Abbott said.

Takeda, which plans to merge parts of 31-year-old venture into its wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary, expects synergies of around 40 billion yen ($400 million) over three years, said Masuda.

Such synergies include not having to embark on new hiring to market drugs it hopes will be approved, he added.