BRIEF—Takeda sells off another batch of non-core assets for $670 million

Japan’s largest drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical has entered into an agreement to divest a portfolio of select non-core over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription pharmaceutical products sold in Europe, and two manufacturing sites located in Denmark and Poland to Danish company Orifarm Group, for up to around $670 million subject to customary legal and regulatory closing conditions.

The portfolio to be divested to Orifarm includes a variety of OTC products and food supplements as well as select prescription products in the respiratory, anti-inflammatory, cardiovascular and endocrinology therapeutic areas sold predominantly in Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Poland, Finland, Sweden, the Baltics and Austria.

The portfolio generated fiscal year 2018 net sales of about $230 million, driven by strong sales of cough/cold and vitamin OTC brands, as well as prescription products Warfarin and Levaxin. While the products included in the sale address key patient needs in these countries, they are outside of Takeda’s chosen business areas – gastroenterology, rare diseases, plasma-derived therapies, oncology, and neuroscience – core to its global long-term growth strategy.

Takeda has announced a series of divestments in the past 12 months, contributing to the company’s goal to divest approximately $10 billion in non-core assets and focus on its key business areas.