A little bit about Daiichi Sankyo, the mother company of Plexxikon...
Daiichi Sankyo is a global pharmaceutical company with 30,000 employees worldwide and corporate origins in Japan. They provide innovative products and services in more than 50 countries around the world. With more than 100 years of scientific expertise, the company draws upon a rich legacy of innovation and a robust pipeline of promising new medicines to help patients.
Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. (DSI) began operating in the U.S. in 2006.
Daiichi Sankyo Europe, GmbH (DSE), the European subsidiary, is headquartered in Munich, Germany
In 2009, the highly respected magazine R&D Direction honoured Daiichi Sankyo with its "Best Cardiovascular Pipeline Award".
In 2006, Daiichi Sankyo acquired Zepharma, the OTC drugs unit of Astellas Pharma.
On June 10, 2008, Daiichi Sankyo agreed to take a majority (64%) stake in Indian generic drug maker Ranbaxy, with a deal valued at about $4.6 billion
In June 2008, Daiichi Sankyo acquired U3 Pharma, which would contribute a therapeutic anti-HER3 antibody to the company's anticancer portfolio
On April 4, 2011 Daiichi Sankyo completed the acquisition of Plexxikon, a Berkeley, California-based pharmaceutical start-up company for $805 million and an additional $130 million in milestone payments, pending on the success of Vemurafenib (Plexxikon’s lead program) an oral, novel drug that targets the oncogenic BRAF mutation present in about half of melanoma cancers and about eight percent of all solid tumors. Daiichi Sankyo is retaining US co-promotion right of the (Roche licensed)
On April 7, 2014, Daiichi Sankyo announced that it has agreed to vote its shares in Ranbaxy in favor of Sun Pharma’s acquisition of 100% of Ranbaxy through the merger process which entails a share swap. The transaction is set to close in December 2014, pending shareholder, court and regulatory approvals and other customary conditions.
On September 29, 2014, Daiichi agreed to acquire Ambit Biosciences for approximately $410 million Less
