Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.'s former head Christophe Weber said he was very proud of where the company is today and that it has been put in a good position for the future, at an annual general shareholders meeting on Wednesday as he stepped down as president and CEO.
Weber led the company for 12 years as its first foreign president and transformed the company into a profitable global enterprise by pursuing a strategy of "selection and concentration," which included massive acquisitions and the sale of non-core businesses.
His successor Julie Kim, who has led the U.S. operation, will be the second consecutive foreign president. Under the new leadership, the challenge will be to sustain growth through the company's own new drug development.
Weber, who is from France and previously held executive positions at a major British pharmaceutical company, assumed the presidency in 2014.
At that time, Takeda was facing difficulties as its profits declined due to factors such as the expiration of patents including on its flagship diabetes drug. Weber was tasked with transforming the company into a globally profitable enterprise by expanding into overseas markets.
In 2017, Takeda acquired U.S.-based Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. for approximately 5.4 billion dollars, and in 2019, it acquired the major Irish pharmaceutical company Shire PLC for approximately 46 billion pounds.
Since new drug development involves enormous costs for clinical trials and other expenses while offering a low success rate, Takeda aimed to increase funds available for research and development by leveraging the benefits of scale.
Weber reflected on the acquisition of Shire, which allowed Takeda to achieve the scale necessary to triple its research and development spending.
Meanwhile, in 2021, the company also moved forward with strategic business consolidation by selling its over-the-counter subsidiary -- which owns products such as the vitamin supplement "Alinamin"-- to a U.S. investment fund for approximately 230 billion yen.
Although concerns were raised about the massive debt incurred by the acquisition of Shire, consolidated revenue for the fiscal year ended March 2026 reached 4.5 trillion yen, a 170% increase from the fiscal year ended March 2014, before Weber took office. The proportion of overseas revenue also rose from 57% to 90%.
The key challenge going forward is whether the company can weather the early 2030s patent expirations for its gastrointestinal disease drugs, which account for 20% of sales revenue.
Amid concerns the entry of generic drugs into the market could worsen performance, the key will be to what extent the company can develop three new drugs -- including an in-house sleep disorder treatment slated for launch as early as the second half of fiscal 2026 -- into revenue mainstays.
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This article is from The Yomiuri Shimbun. Neither Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch, Barron's nor The Wall Street Journal were involved in the creation of this content.
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June 25, 2026 06:09 ET (10:09 GMT)
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