Otsuka Pharmaceutical, a pharmaceutical company, agreed to acquire Jnana Therapeutics, a biotechnology company, for $1.1bn. "I am gratified that Otsuka has entered into an agreement with Jnana. The addition of Jnana's drug discovery technology and small molecule pipeline in PKU and autoimmune diseases will strengthen our R&D in the Boston area of the US, one of the most important bioclusters in the world, and in a combined form will have a synergistic effect on Otsuka Pharmaceutical's global expansion,” Makoto Inoue, Otsuka President and Representative Director.