Pharma BD Deal Intelligence

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. / Wave Life Sciences Ltd.

2018 · Co-Development · $2.0B · Complete

WRONG BY 28 POINTS

Not actually an acquisition — a $260M CNS collaboration that Takeda quietly walked away from in 2024 despite positive late-breaking data

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The coverage arc

Feb 20, 2018 FierceBiotech Bullish

FierceBiotech framed the pact as a strategic fit for Takeda's neuro-focused R&D restructuring, giving the buyer optionality across four genetically defined CNS…

Apr 04, 2022 Endpoints News Bearish

Endpoints reported Takeda and Wave revised the original 2018 deal to drop the joint discovery component, signaling reduced commitment after the Phase 1 HD…

Sep 19, 2024 BioSpace Bearish

Takeda walked away from the Wave Huntington's collaboration after deploying roughly $260M, ending the 2018 alliance with no approved product to show for it.

Source summaries from our enrichment pipeline; follow links for originals.

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Takeda and Wave Life Sciences formed a global strategic collaboration in February 2018 to develop nucleic acid therapies for CNS disorders. Takeda paid $110M upfront, $60M in equity at $54.70/share, and committed at least $60M in research funding over four years. Total deal could reach ~$2B+ across four lead programs (HD, ALS, FTD, SCA3) plus options on multiple preclinical programs targeting Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Did it work? Outcome assessment

Not actually an acquisition — a $260M CNS collaboration that Takeda quietly walked away from in 2024 despite positive late-breaking data

Strategic verdict
Failed to Achieve

Key facts

Related deals — scored

DealYearValueOutcome
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. / Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (this deal)2018$2.0B22
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. / Nimbus Lakshmi2022$6.0B82
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. / Millennium Pharmaceuticals2003$8.8B82
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. / Ariad Pharmaceuticals2003$5.2B77
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. / Nycomed2011$13.7B72
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. / Millennium Pharmaceuticals2008$8.8B68
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. / Denali Therapeutics Inc.2018$1.2B64

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