TOKYO, Aug. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Astellas Pharma Inc. ("Astellas"; Tokyo:4503; President and CEO: Yoshihiko Hatanaka) announced that it decided to close Urogenix, Inc. ("Urogenix", Durham, NC, President: Shuuichi Tawara), an Astellas subsidiary, which is a research facility focusing on drug discovery in the field of urology. The closure will be completed by the end of December 2012. Urogenix currently employees thirteen scientists and staff.

In March 2006, Astellas acquired this research facility from Dynogen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Since then, Urogenix has evaluated the clinical potential of urological development candidates especially in the area of lower urinary tract disorders. Urology continues to be one of Astellas' five focus therapeutic areas and upon this decision, Astellas will transfer research functions at Urogenix to Astellas' Tsukuba Research Center in Japan.

The decision to transfer urology research activities to Japan will strengthen the company's commitment to optimizing its research and development resource allocation. 

SOURCE Astellas Pharma Inc.