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TOP 20 PHARMA
HEADCOUNT
YEAR ESTABLISHED
PHARMA REVENUES
1-1, Doshomachi 4-chome, Chuo-ku, Osaka 540-8645 (Japan) TOTAL REVENUES
NET INCOME
R&D BUDGET
Account for 72% of total pharma sales, up from 70% in 2005.
IN THE PAST YEAR, TAKEDA MADE A SPLASH in the U.S. with its Avandia’s risks (see GlaxoSmithKline’s profile). Its share of the surreal commercials for sleep treatment Rozerem. Featuring new prescription market shot to 22% from 10%, while Avandia’s such elements as Abraham Lincoln and a talking beaver, the dropped from 10% to nil in the immediate aftermath. Overall, spots are supposed to evoke the incredibly embarrassing Actos sales rose 13% in the two weeks following the news dream-symbols that insomniacs are missing out on. Lucky release, according to Wolters Kluwer Health. It remains to be them. It’s still early days, but a recent article in the Chicago seen what effect the “black box” has on Actos prescriptions.
Tribune indicated that Takeda’s North American business actu- In mid-June 2007, Takeda shut down the Phase III U.S. trial of ally spent more on Rozerem marketing ($100+ million) than a fixed-dose combo of Actos and TAK-536, an antihypertensive.
Takeda has made in Rozerem revenues ($88 million). Takeda The company announced that an “improvement in pharmaceu- submitted the drug to the EMEA in March 2007.
tical formulation is needed for the fixed combination of Actos Rozerem’s slow uptake aside, Japan’s top pharma company and TAK-536, and [the company] has been reviewing its overall saw drug revenues grow nearly 10% (fiscal year ended March development projects in the franchises of cardiovascular and 31, 2007) as the company continued its management plan to diabetes, while suspending that Phase III study.” I found this a carry it through 2010. (See last year’s profile for details on that bit fishy, but no pharma analysts I asked agreed with me, so I’m plan and its attendant “Takeda-ism”.) just going to chalk that up to my own suspicious mind.
If the Avandia/Actos heart risks turn out to be unfounded — Sweet and Sour
or at least manageable — Takeda will be in fine shape. But if the Takeda’s sales growth was driven mainly by diabetes drug studies turn up more risk factors, then we could see a good part Actos. In April 2006, Takeda took over U.S. marketing and sales of the company’s pipeline facing “formulation problems.” ■ responsibilities for Actos from its partner, Lilly. The companieshad co-promoted Actos since 1999, and Lilly has continued to ACQUISITION
market Actos in Canada, Mexico and parts of Europe and Asia.
Target: Paradigm Therapeutics
Unfortunately, the FDA recently asked Takeda and market- Price: not disclosed
ing partner Lilly to place a “black box” label on Actos, after rev- Announced: March 2007
elations about the increased heart attack risk of its fellow thia- What they said: “This deal . . . will add to Takeda another
research base equipped with the state-of-the-art technologies In a case of mixed blessings, Actos did see an upswing in expected to further improve Takeda's research efficiency.” prescriptions in the days after the May 2007 NEJM article on www.contractpharma.com
CONTRACT PHARMA • July/August 2007 85

Source: http://shows.contractpharma.com/articles/2007/07/images/2007top20pharma15takeda.pdf