Takeda unveiled an ambitious plan March 31, the day before Japan's new fiscal year, to reorganize its corporate structure in a quest to become a "global pharmaceutical company with highly integrated global operations."

To streamline executive reporting to President Yasuchika Hasegawa, Takeda created three new positions, naming Shigenori Ohkawa as the chief scientific officer and Alan MacKenzie as executive VP for international operations, effective April 1, and a to-be-named chief administrative officer.

Ohkawa, a member of Takeda's board of directors, was the general manager of Takeda's pharmaceutical research division. Alan Mackenzie is currently the president and chief executive for Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America.

"Takeda is making meaningful changes in structure and governance through this reorganization and the creation of the CSO, EVP, International Operations, and CAO roles, which we believe will further strengthen our global operations structure," Hasegawa said.

Global Operations Integration

Takeda will move its global development headquarters from Osaka to the company's U.S. headquarters in Deerfield, Illinois by July. Based there, MacKenzie is tasked with running Takeda's overseas commercial operations, including the U.S., Europe and Asia (ex-Japan), as well as global medical affairs and international marketing.

Takeda, Japan's largest drug company, recently launched a series of overseas marketing expansions. The company announced March 27 the establishment of a marketing branch in Ontario, Canada starting in April, and plans to start business operations by the end of 2009. A Canadian sales office is a first for Takeda; analysts say it signals that Takeda can no longer afford to ignore the world's eighth-largest pharmaceutical market.

On the same day as the reorganization announcement, Takeda also unveiled the opening of a sales office in Spain and expanded current marketing operations to the whole of Ireland. The Irish and Spanish offices became the seventh and eighth solely owned marketing branches for Takeda in Europe, after France, UK, Italy, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

"To realize our vision to revitalize ourselves and become a global pharmaceutical company, we have to contribute to the efforts in strengthening worldwide presence," President Hasegawa commented on the new openings.

The company also decided that Erich Brunn and Stefan Ziegler will continue to run its European and Asian operations as CEOs for London-based Takeda Pharmaceuticals Europe and Singapore-based Takeda Pharmaceuticals Asia Private Limited, respectively.

The new CSO Shigenori Ohkawa will be based in both Deerfield and Osaka. Designed to oversee Takeda's global research, development, chemistry and manufacturing and controls, as well as intellectual property, the CSO will make decisions on R&D and clinical trials. Ohkawa's dual bases reflect the reality that the largest Japanese drug maker takes in more sales from overseas markets than from Japan's domestic market.

Takeda's third quarter financial result from April to December 2008 shows the company achieved ¥657 billion in sales from its overseas operations, compared to ¥427.1 billion in Japan, and sales in the international market grew by ¥123.9 billion (23.2 percent) compared to ¥8.6 billion (2.5 percent) in Japan.

A leading diabetes and cardiovascular drug maker, Takeda had hoped to leap to the top three in oncology in Japan with the merger with Millennium, but is re-evaluating that goal after recent consolidation in the industry - including Pfizer/Wyeth and Merck/Schering-Plough (PharmAsia News, March 30, 2009).

Millennium President and CEO Deborah Dunsire will continue to lead the Takeda Oncology Company.

The company also announced March 24 that a new drug application for combination use of its best selling diabetes drug Actos (pioglitazone) with insulin for diabetes treatment obtained approval in Japan from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

- Brian Yang (pharmasia@elsevier.com)

Takeda Starts Japanese Fiscal Year With Global Reorganization

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