Wyeth acquires British biotech firm

19 December 2008

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals has acquired Thiakis Ltd, a privately held British biotechnology company in a $150 million deal.

According to Mikael Dolsten, president Wyeth Research, the acquisition marks another step in Wyeth's development thrust toward innovative high-value medicines focused on critical therapeutic areas related to metabolic disorders.

Analysts say that Wyeth's interest in Thiakis lies in the experimental obesity drug TKS1225 which it is developing.

The drug is  reportedly in early-stage human studies. Thiakis which was founded in 2004, has focused on development of drugs for obesity and metabolic disease.

Obesity treatment, remains a promising field for drug companies despite the failure of some products from high profile players like Sanofi and Pfizer.

The takeover of Thiakis, which claims a novel approach to developing obesity drugs, has therefore not come as a surprise according to industry watchers.