China’s Hasten Biopharmaceutic Acquires Five Non-Core Assets from Japan’s Takeda

Continuing its divestiture strategy since January 2019, Takeda has planned on releasing non-core assets to focus on creating innovative therapies and developments on Gastroenterology (GI), Rare Diseases, Plasma-Derived Therapies, Oncology, and Neuroscience, the 5 chosen areas that are essential to its long-term growth strategy.

After the divestiture with Celltrion in early December, Takeda struck up another deal with Hasten Biopharmaceutic, a company funded by Feidong County of Hefei City, China and established by Ray Capital Management Limited.

Five Prescription Drugs Sold to Hasten

Takeda is letting go of five prescription drugs, including cardiovascular and metabolism products that are mainly sold in China in exchange for around 322 million. The portfolio of select drugs generated 109.5 million net sales in 2019, mostly contributed by cardiovascular drug Ebrantil, one of the products sold to Hasten.

As per the contract, the employees who are dedicated to the commercial support of these products will also be transferred to Hasten. As for the manufacturing and supply agreement, Takeda will continue to manufacture and supply the divested products to Hasten.

The agreement is estimated to close by June 30, 2021, and until then, Takeda will have the full right of these products.

For future use of proceeds, Takeda will firstly reduce its debt and then facilitate the R&D and expand its manufacturing capacity of these five core business areas.

“This announcement marks continued progress on our commitment to simplify our global portfolio and remain focused on investing in our growth drivers, and research and development pipeline,” said Costa Saroukos, Chief Financial Officer, Takeda. “We remain committed to expansion in China with more than 15 planned approvals over the next five years. By continuing to execute and deliver on Takeda’s financial commitments, including paying down debt and focusing on our highly innovative portfolio, we can sustain our long-term growth and continue to deliver life-transforming treatments for patients worldwide.”

Divestiture Strategy in 2020

For the past two years, Takeda has exceeded its $10 billion non-core asset divestiture target. Here are some of the divestiture agreements in 2020.

March 2: Sold 30 prescription pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter (OTC) products in Near East, Middle East, and African countries within its Growth and Emerging Markets Business Unit (GEM BU) to Acino for 200 million

March 2: Sold 18 select OTC and prescription pharmaceutical assets in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru to Hypera Pharma for 825 million

March 4: Sold 20 OTC and prescription pharmaceutical products exclusively in Russia, Georgia, and several countries from within the Commonwealth of Independent States to STADA Arzneimittel AG for 660 million.

April 24: Sold 110 select OTC and prescription pharmaceutical assets in Europe to Orifarm for 670 million

September 8: Sold non-core prescription pharmaceutical products sold predominantly in Europe and Canada to Cheplapharm for 562 million.

December 1: Sold 18 pharmaceutical products and OTC products in the Asia Pacific to Celltrion for 278 million

By Tyler Chen

Related Article: Takeda Plans to Distribute 50 Million Doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine in Japan

References

1. https://www.takeda.com/newsroom/newsreleases/2020/takeda-furthers-innovation-focused-strategy-in-china-with-sale-of-select-non-core-assets-to-hasten-for-$322-million-usd/

Author

Tyler Chen

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