Takeda buys back Lilly's Actos rights

Eli Lilly and Takeda Pharmaceutical are parting ways on Actos--at least partway. Aiming to boost its presence in Europe, the Japanese company is buying back the marketing rights to the diabetes remedy in seven countries, including Canada, Norway and Sweden. Lilly will still sell Actos in some other countries, at least for now, Takeda said.

The move comes on the heels of Takeda's expansion of its sales and marketing operations in Ireland, and the outright launch of a sales/marketing force in Spain. At the time, Takeda execs said that the European move was part of a key strategy: "the enhancement of our presence in each region of the world to further establish Takeda as a world-class pharmaceutical company."

And just two weeks ago, Takeda established a beachhead in Canada by creating Takeda Canada; the move was billed as evidence of the company's building a "global operating infrastructure including expanding its own sales channels."

- see Takeda's Spain/Ireland release
- read the Indianapolis Business Journal story

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