ARIAD Pharmaceuticals

In 1991, Harvey J. Berger founded ARIAD Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with a focus on discovering and developing medicines for cancer patients. The company made a significant entrance by raising $46 million in its initial financing in 1992, which at the time, was the largest single funding round in the biotechnology industry. This early success set the stage for ARIAD to go public with an IPO on NASDAQ in 1994. The company’s work centered on creating small-molecule drugs to treat various forms of cancer. Their key product, Iclusig, was developed to treat specific types of leukemia, including chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). ARIAD also had a promising investigational drug, brigatinib, in its pipeline for a specific form of non-small cell lung cancer. The major turning point for ARIAD came in January 2017, when Takeda Pharmaceutical Company announced it would acquire the company for approximately $5.2 billion. This acquisition was a strategic move for Takeda to expand its oncology and hematology portfolio. The deal was completed in February 2017, and ARIAD became an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Takeda, ceasing to trade on the NASDAQ. The acquisition integrated ARIAD's targeted therapies, Iclusig and the potential blockbuster brigatinib, into Takeda's global oncology business.