Takeda preps for further acquisition

Takeda is preparing to make a further acquisition in emerging markets after buying a licence to a cancer drug from Exelixis.

In a Q3 results presentation, chief financial officer, James Kehoe, said Takeda had already paid 40.8 billion yen – around £286 million – into an escrow account to finance the potential deal.

But Kehoe declined to give further details about the acquisition target in the Q3 results conference call.

“We cannot disclose more at this point in time and we will announce the transaction once the customary closing conditions have been met,” Kehoe told investors in the call.

Takeda has also paid 15.7 billion yen (nearly £110 million) to buy back royalties from an undisclosed product.

Takeda struck a deal to buy Ariad for $5.2 billion in January – and last year the company set aside up to $15 billion to fund M&A, according to reports.

The M&A activity follows a period of restructuring under CEO, Christophe Weber, who took the helm in 2014 as the firm was feeling the impact of patent expiries on key drugs.

Year-to-date revenues decreased 5.6% to 1,315 billion yen (£9.2 billion) due to currency headwinds, although the company cited a net profit increase of 45.8% to 165.7 billion yen (£1.16 billion) as a better indicator of company performance.

The net profit figure adjusted for the impact of the ongoing restructuring programme, and Takeda raised its full-year revenue guidance from 1670 billion yen (£11.7 billion) to 1700 billion yen (£11.9 billion).

Kehoe highlighted the performance of newly-launched cancer drug Ninlaro, which has already achieved year-to-date sales of $200 million.

There is more growth to come from Ninlaro, an oral protease inhibitor for multiple myeloma, as launches are due in other countries, including Europe, said Kehoe.

“We are preparing for launches in multiple countries, including Europe.”

In a separate announcement, Takeda said it had bought a licence for Exelixis’ oncology medicine, cabozantinib, marketed in the US and EU for renal cell carcinoma and medullary thyroid carcinoma.

Takeda paid $50 million upfront for a licence covering all indications, plus up to $95 million for development, regulatory and sales milestones for the first three indications. Exelixis will also receive royalties on sales by Takeda.