Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical sees $725mn in costs from R&D revamp

Bloomberg

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. said efforts to revamp its research operations will cost 75 billion yen ($725 million) as it seeks to build a new pipeline of drugs and considers closing some R&D operations in the U.K.
The Japanese company’s R&D activities will be concentrated in Japan and in the U.S., it said in a statement Friday. The number of “impacted positions” will fluctuate depending on the progress of implementing these programs and the transformation, Takeda said. Christophe Weber, the Frenchman who last year became Takeda’s first foreign chief executive officer, has sought to streamline the operations of the 235-year-old drugmaker. Takeda plans to now focus on the three therapeutic areas of oncology, gastroenterology and the central nervous system.
“We need to first build new capabilities and embrace new ways of working,” said Andy Plump, Takeda’s chief medical and scientific officer, in the statement.
Takeda Friday reported first-quarter net income that tripled from a year earlier due to higher sales of gastrointestinal medicines. Operating income of 152.9 billion yen for the quarter ended June topped the average estimate of 124.4 billion yen from four analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. At a press conference, Plump said job cuts are expected as a result of the efforts to boost efficiency. A third of the one-time cost of 75 billion yen has already been worked into the forecast for the current fiscal year and the rest will be reflected in the next fiscal year.
The company will consult with employees on a “proposed” closure in Cambridge, England, it said in an investor presentation posted on its website. The Cambridge withdrawal is nothing to do with Britain’s vote to leave the E.U., Weber said at the press conference.
Takeda also plans to exit certain clinical supply activities from certain parts of the U.K. pending union discussions.