Acquisition · Pharma
Kaken Pharmaceutical buys Aadi's US rare-cancer drug FYARRO business for $100 million
- Buyer
- Kaken Pharmaceutical (Tokyo)
- Target
- Aadi Subsidiary (FYARRO business of Aadi Bioscience), Los Angeles, California
- Value
- $100M
- Status
- Completed on March 26, 2025, for about $103 million after adjustments.
- Date
- 2024-12-19
Kaken agreed to acquire Aadi Subsidiary, which holds the FYARRO business, from Los Angeles-based Aadi Bioscience for $100 million in cash. FYARRO is an approved US treatment for a rare soft-tissue cancer, PEComa; the deal includes most of the staff supporting the drug and the Aadi name. Aadi used the sale to pivot to antibody-drug conjugates.
Why it matters
The deal gives Kaken, best known for dermatology and orthopedic drugs at home, an approved product and a commercial team in the US, a foothold for overseas growth as Japan's drug-price cuts squeeze domestic earnings.
About FYARRO
FYARRO is an albumin-bound form of the drug sirolimus. The FDA approved it in November 2021 as the first treatment for advanced malignant PEComa. Its sales over the four quarters to September 2024 were about $25.2 million, so Kaken paid about four times sales.
The seller's new path
Alongside the sale, Aadi licensed three antibody-drug conjugates developed by WuXi Biologics and Hangzhou DAC for $44 million upfront and raised $100 million from investors. It renamed itself Whitehawk Therapeutics and expected the money to last into late 2028.
Sources
Kakehashi M&A News home
