Dive Brief:
- Takeda research and development chief Andy Plump, hired in 2015 to help transform the centuries-old Japanese drugmaker into a more nimble, innovative company, will retire in June of next year.
- Plump will remain president of R&D until a successor is found and then work with that person “to ensure a smooth and seamless transition,” Takeda said Thursday. He will stay on the company’s board of directors through the shareholder meeting in June 2027.
- “His contributions have advanced groundbreaking science, strengthened our R&D organization and developed exceptional talent, creating a lasting foundation to serve patients for years to come,” Takeda CEO Julie Kim said in the company’s statement.
Dive Insight:
Plump is leaving after leading a “strategic and cultural transformation of R&D,” Takeda said. Emulating the dealmaking approach taken by Celgene, Plump helped rejuvenate the company’s pipeline with a bigger web of partnerships, looked to China for potential new blockbusters and built a rare disease business with Takeda’s $62 billion takeover of Shire in 2019.
Not all of the efforts paid off. Last year, Takeda announced it would abandon cell therapy work after previously making it a strategic priority. The company also dealt with setbacks including the withdrawal of a lung cancer medication, a regulatory misfire for a dengue vaccine and production challenges that led it to stop manufacturing a treatment for a rare endocrine condition.
Meanwhile, some investors questioned the returns on the Shire deal. And the loss of exclusivity on some older top-selling products prompted Takeda to undertake a restructuring and lay off thousands of workers as it prepared for a new wave of drugs to emerge from its pipeline.
But Plump is leaving as the company’s prospects have brightened considerably. Last month, Takeda won approval for an eagerly anticipated narcolepsy medicine and a first-of-its-kind blood cancer therapy. Next on the horizon is an immune disease drug that’s succeeded in testing in psoriasis and could be useful against other conditions. Together, the three new products could eventually bring in sales of more than $8 billion a year, according to estimates from Jefferies analyst Stephen Barker.
Plump said he’s confident he’s leaving the company in a strong position. “I am deeply proud of the world-class organization we have built,” he said in a LinkedIn post.
