Takeda Announces CFO Costa Saroukos Resignation and Pipeline Restructuring Amid Q3 2023 Financial Results

On February 1, 2024, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited announced that its Chief Financial Officer, Costa Saroukos, had left the company, and the company cut a series of pipelines.

Takeda stated that Saroukos will step down from the position of Chief Financial Officer on April 1, 2024, and will continue to serve as a company director until June 28, 2024. Milano Furuta, President of Takeda Pharmaceutical’s Japan pharmaceuticals business unit, will succeed Saroukos as Chief Financial Officer.

The reason for resignation is that Saroukos decided to return to his hometown, Australia, to be closer to his family.

Saroukos joined Takeda in 2015 as the Chief Financial Officer for Europe and Canada, and was appointed as Takeda's Global Chief Financial Officer in April 2018.

Saroukos Played a Key Role in Takeda’s Transformation into a Global Biopharmaceutical Company. His leadership during Takeda's acquisition and integration of Shire PLC (the largest overseas acquisition by a Japanese company in history) was a critical factor in the success of the deal, and his financial management helped the company refocus on growth investments and shareholder returns.

Saroukos holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor's degree in International Affairs from Hitotsubashi University in Japan. He began his career in Japan in 2000, working in banking and private equity investment, where he participated in various types of financial transactions, including leveraged buyouts and debt restructuring.

Before joining Takeda, he worked as an equity research analyst at an American investment management company. Prior to becoming President of JPBU, Saroukos served as Takeda’s Corporate Strategy Officer and Chief of Staff, and held various leadership roles across the company globally.

At the same time, Takeda announced its financial report for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2023 (ended December 31, 2023), showing strong growth momentum in the third quarter and the approval and market launch of several new products.

In the first nine months of the fiscal year, Takeda's global revenue was 3.21 trillion yen (approximately 22 billion USD), which remained flat compared to the previous year on a constant currency basis.

Due to patent expiration, sales of its drug Vyvanse fell 12.1% to 312.9 billion yen ($2.14 billion).

On November 8, 2023, Fruzaqla (fruquintinib), co-developed by HUTCHMED and Takeda, was approved by the FDA for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who have previously received fluoropyrimidine-based, oxaliplatin-based, and irinotecan-based chemotherapy, anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy, and anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) therapy (if RAS wild-type and medically applicable).

On November 9, 2023, the FDA approved Takeda's Adzynma for prophylactic or on-demand enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) in adult and pediatric patients with congenital thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (cTTP).

During the reporting period, the subcutaneous (SC) formulation of ENTYVIO® (vedolizumab) was launched in the United States. In September 2023, the drug received FDA approval for maintenance therapy in adult patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC) who have received ENTYVIO intravenous (IV) induction therapy.

Takeda stated that Entyvio has maintained its leading position in the U.S. IBD market in recent months, with global sales increasing by 7% in the first nine months of the company's current fiscal year.

On December 21, 2023, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited's antiviral drug Maribavir (Livtencity) was approved by the NMPA for the treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and/or disease in adult patients after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation or solid organ transplantation who are refractory to one or more prior treatments (ganciclovir, valganciclovir, cidofovir, or foscarnet), with or without genotypic resistance.

In the first half of 2023, Takeda's total sales were approximately US$13.871 billion, increasing by 1.4% year-on-year, but its profit significantly declined by 53%, reaching about US$1.787 billion.Due to a series of uncontrollable factors, Takeda's net loss increased, leading the company to cut its full-year net profit forecast by up to 71% and eliminate four pipelines.

Exkivity: A Phase III clinical trial (EXCLAIM-2) for Exkivity, a lung cancer treatment product, as a first-line treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer was terminated due to lack of efficacy benefit. After consultation with the FDA, Takeda decided to initiate the voluntary withdrawal of Exkivity in the United States.

TAK-920/DNL-919: Takeda and its partner Denali halted the development of the Alzheimer's disease (AD) candidate drug DNL-919 (ATV: TREM2) after observing "moderate, reversible hematological effects" at the highest dose.

TAK-611: The candidate drug enzyme replacement therapy TAK-611 did not meet the primary or secondary endpoints in the Phase II trial for the treatment of Metachromatic Leukodystrophy (MLD).

TAK-105: Due to data not supporting further development, the candidate drug TAK-105 for treating nausea and vomiting will be withdrawn from Phase I development.

Previously, Takeda also terminated 12 R&D projects and abandoned the AAV gene therapy pipeline.

However, the third-quarter earnings report shows that the net loss is still growing.

The company stated in its earnings report that, in the short term, namely from fiscal year 2024 to fiscal year 2025, Takeda aims to restore growth in sales, profits, and profit margins.