Takeda is a research-based pharmaceutical company that has been engaged in the pharmaceutical industry for over 220 years. The Takeda Group consists of 67 companies, including the parent company, 45 consolidated subsidiaries and 21 affiliates. It currently ranks 14th among research-based pharmaceutical companies in terms of pharma sales. It annually invests 14.8 per cent of its revenue in research and development, ranking 18th in terms of R&D expenditure with other pharmaceutical companies.

Takeda specialises in the areas of metabolic, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, anticancer, musculoskeletal and CNS products. R&D is focused on lifestyle-related diseases, cancer and urological diseases, CNS diseases, and life-cycle management of drugs for digestive system diseases.

The Japanese pharmaceutical market has become increasingly difficult as National Health Insurance prices have been reduced and the larger pharma companies from Europe and the US have won a greater proportion of domestic market share. This competitive environment has seen three notable Japanese mergers in fiscal 2005 (to form Daiichi Sankyo, Astellas Pharma and Dainippon Sumitomo) and a general trend of struggling sales for Japanese companies. Takeda benefits from a more international profile than most Japanese companies, with nearly 50 per cent of sales generated overseas. This has allowed the company to steal a march on its domestic competitors and assert itself as the largest research-based pharmaceutical company in Japan and among the top twenty globally.

Takeda's worldwide infrastructure lays the foundation for growth in the pharmaceutical market, but the main driver for expansion will always be the product portfolio. Actos, Lupron, Blopress and Takepron have provided the sales to enable 16 years of consistent revenue growth and pharmaceutical sales in excess of ¥1 trillion. However, as outlined in Takeda's 2006-2010 Medium-Term Plan, the key challenges facing the company are the patent expirations for Takepron (10th December 2005), Lupron (1st May 2006) and Actos (17th January 2011). Consequently, new markets, indications and formulations for these products dominate Takeda's pipeline, and the company has indicated it will continue to invest heavily in the life-cycle management of these core drugs.