ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc., had been an oncology company engaged in the discovery, development, and commercialization of medicines for cancer patients. In January 2017, Takeda acquired Ariad. The company had offered Iclusig (ponatinib), a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) for the treatment of adult patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), and Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia in the United States, Europe, and other territories. It also develops Brigatinib, an investigational inhibitor of anaplastic lymphoma kinase for the treatment of various patients with a form of non-small cell lung cancer; and AP32788, an orally active TKI for treating non-small cell lung cancer and various other solid tumors. The company sells and markets Iclusig through specialty pharmacies and specialty distributors in the United States. The firm has license agreements with Medinol Ltd. and ICON Medical Corp. to develop and commercialize stents and other medical devices to deliver ridaforolimus. With less than 400 employes, Ariad is theoretically still SBIR eligible but has not been program involved since its start-up days. In May 2016, it was announced that Incyte Corporation (Nasdaq:INCY) and ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:ARIA) had entered into a definitive agreement for Incyte to acquire ARIAD’s 125 person European operations. At the close of the transaction, the companies will also enter into a license agreement whereby Incyte will obtain an exclusive license to develop and commercialize Iclusig® (ponatinib) in Europe and other select countries.
