DEERFIELD, Ill., Oct. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX - News) today announced it has signed an agreement with Kaketsuken, the Chemo-Sero-Therapeutic Research Institute, based in Kumamoto Japan, for the worldwide rights to develop, manufacture and market the recombinant protein ADAMTS13. The development of recombinant ADAMTS13, a bio-engineered version of a naturally occurring enzyme that plays a critical role in blood coagulation, will strengthen Baxter’s pre-clinical research and development pipeline for specialty therapeutics targeting rare diseases. In the absence of ADAMTS13 in the blood, patients develop a severe, often life-threatening condition called thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), marked by the formation of platelet-rich blood clots in blood vessels throughout the body. Recombinant ADAMTS13 is being developed for the treatment of TTP and related disorders and will be evaluated for other indications in the future. This agreement provides an opportunity for Baxter to exclusively develop a new recombinant protein and investigate its potential use in treating unmet medical needs.
