Takeda is gearing up for a 2010 launch of the orphan bone cancer immunotherapy Mepact (mifamurtide) in Europe and may consider re-submitting its failed FDA application for that compound, after buying IDM Pharma for $75 million in a deal announced May 18. Mepact, known by the brand name Junovan in the U.S., is designed to stimulate macrophages, large white blood cells known to play a key role in immune response. It has orphan product status for osteosarcoma, a rare, difficult-to-treat and life-threatening...