Takeda completes Nycomed acquisition, installs new chief executive
pharmafile | October 3, 2011 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Nycomed, Takeda
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company has completed its acquisition of Nycomed and named Frank Morich as chief executive of the Zurich-based firm.
Morich will add this post to his current role as executive vice president, international operations (Americas/Europe) at Takeda Pharmaceuticals International.
Osaka-based Takeda paid 9.6 billion euros for Nycomed, which will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company with immediate effect. Takeda hopes the addition of the Swiss firm’s presence in Europe and emerging markets will dovetail with its own work in Japan and the US.
It will also benefit from Nycomed’s recently opened offices in China, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Morich said the buy would bring “enhanced revenue, growth and diversification, while maintaining the strong momentum of both companies”.
In addition to beefing up Takeda’s regulatory development expertise and capability to commercialise drugs in new countries, Nycomed’s annual turnover of around 2.8 billion euros also offers an attractive addition to the Japanese group’s cash flow statement.
“Partnering the two organisations will have complementary effects and further increase our potential to become a truly global pharmaceutical company,” said Yasuchika Hasegawa, Takeda president and chief executive.
The acquisition fits in with Takeda’s sustainable growth strategy, he added, saying that it would “enable us to sustain medium and long-term growth targets starting in fiscal 2015 and extending into the next decade”.
Between them, the companies’ therapy areas include metabolic diseases, gastroenterology, oncology, cardiovascular health, CNS diseases, inflammatory and immune disorders, respiratory diseases and pain management.
Nycomed’s products include Instanyl, a single-dose nasal spray for the treatment of breakthrough pain in cancer patients, approved by the European Commission earlier this year.
Last month Takeda moved its potential first-in-class diabetes candidate TAK-875, the first GPR-40 agonist to reach clinical development, into Phase III clinical trials.
And it received another boost when NICE reversed its stance on bone cancer drug Mepact (mifamurtide) after re-examining discounts and a new patient access scheme.
New licensing agreement for Nycomed
Meanwhile, as if to underline Nycomed’s credentials in emerging markets, the Swiss firm has just struck a licensing agreement with Spanish pharma company Almirall for Kestine (ebastine), indicated for allergic rhinitis and chronic idiopathic urticaria.
Nycomed will take responsibility for sales, marketing and distribution of the brand in China, and it will be launched in Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia, where Nycomed will be marketing authorisation holder.
Adam Hill
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