Takeda’s profits fall by a fifth

Takeda Pharmaceuticals has reported its profits for the second quarter of 2008 fell by 20 per cent on acquisition costs.

Japan’s largest drug manufacturer bought US cancer company Millennium Pharmaceuticals for $8.9 million (5.63 million pounds) in May and merged Tap Pharmaceuticals into its North American business.

While it said in its financial report a stronger yen had resulted in it pulling back on its full-year forecast, it raised its dividend forecast for the whole year – which ends in March.

Reporting on the news, the International Herald Tribune noted: “Many Japanese drug makers expect profit to fall this year on the back of hefty acquisition and expansion costs, investments they have made to ensure long-term survival.”

This was a result of a range of expiries on US patents – leaving the markets for these drugs open to generic manufacture – and stagnating economic growth in Japan.

A major loss of patent for the Osaka-based company will be its diabetic drug Actos, plus an ulcer treatment Prevacid.

Overall the first half of the year saw Takeda’s profits falling by 70 per cent but it outdid its own predictions for May to September.

The company was formed in 1781 and incorporated in 1925. It has facilities in Osaka, Hikari, Italy, Ireland, China and Indonesia.