Takeda is promoting U.S. chief Julie Kim to be its next CEO. AstraZeneca and Daiichi's Enhertu has won an FDA nod to expand into HER2-ultralow breast cancer. East Asian Americans are underrepresented in biopharma companies' C-suites, a report shows. And more.
1. Takeda taps Julie Kim to take over for retiring CEO Christophe Weber
Takeda has named Julie Kim, currently the company’s U.S. president, to succeed Christophe Weber as its next CEO in June 2026. During his tenure as Takeda’s first non-Japanese CEO, Weber expanded the company's international reach with its $62 billion acquisition of Shire. It was through that deal that Kim joined Takeda. Kim previously led Takeda’s plasma-derived therapies unit.
2. Takeda axes failed epilepsy asset after FDA weighs in on data package
After speaking with the FDA, Takeda has abandoned plans to seek approval for its Ovid Therapeutics-partnered epilepsy candidate soticlestat. The cholesterol 24 hydroxylase inhibitor had previously failed phase 3 trials in two forms of epilepsy. While Takeda figured the “totality of the data” could support the drug's case in Dravet syndrome, the FDA disagreed.
3. Takeda bids adieu to Uloric after gout med's gradual fade from glory
Takeda has also decided to discontinue its gout drug Uloric. The hyperuricemia drug, first approved by the FDA in 2009, was stripped of its first-line treatment nod in 2019 after a post-marketing study raised safety concerns. Since then, multiple generics have entered the U.S., with only about 3% of patients still on the Takeda original, a Takeda spokesperson said.
4. AZ, Daiichi's Enhertu nabs 7th FDA nod, including in 'HER2-ultralow' use, in breast cancer first
AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo’s Enhertu has gained another landmark FDA approval that allows the antibody-drug conjugate to treat patients with HER2-ultralow metastatic breast cancer. Compared with the drug's historic HER2-low nod in 2022, the new go-ahead allows Enhertu to treat tumors with even lower expression levels of HER2 and it moves one line earlier in the treatment sequence.
Among biopharma companies with a market cap of $500 million or more, east Asian Americans only occupy 7% of C-suite roles, according to a report from the newly formed nonprofit ElevAAte. The report “is confirming what we had all thought, but now we can actually quantify it,” said Ken Song, M.D., CEO of Candid Therapeutics and a founding director of ElevAAte.
6. Fujifilm Diosynth CEO heralds 2025 as 'biggest year' yet for CDMO's $8B+ expansion drive
This year, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies will focus on getting its first large-scale investments up and running and on its plan to double the size of its biomanufacturing plant in Hillerød, Denmark, the CDMO’s CEO Lars Petersen said in a recent interview. The first phase of expansion at the Danish plant just added six new mammalian cell bioreactors, and the next phase is being backed by $1.6 billion in spending.
Other News of Note:
7. Nippon Shinyaku to pay $36M to reserve US rights to AB2 Bio's near-approval autoimmune drug
8. Merck, Eisai's star-crossed Keytruda-Lenvima combo misses survival goal in GI cancer trial
9. Shionogi's RSV antiviral reduces viral load in phase 2 trial of adults
10. Amgen settles Prolia patent suit with Celltrion, teeing up potential biosimilar launch in June
11. Takeda regains home rights to phase 3-stage depression drug from Neurocrine
12. Obesity biotech Aardvark eyes IPO as Ascentage makes $126M Nasdaq debut