A recent antitrust verdict has prompted Takeda to revise its 2025 financials, putting the drugmaker at a 152 billion Japanese yen ($949.37 million) loss for the fiscal year.
Last month, a federal jury in Boston found the Japanese drugmaker liable in a class action pay-for-delay lawsuit, ordering Takeda to pay up at least $885 million in damages. Although the monetary amount of damages has not yet been finalized, the total amount Takeda will have to pay can automatically triple under antitrust law, putting a potential liability of some $2.5 billion on the table.
While Takeda intends to “vigorously pursue” post-trial motions and an appeal—plus a stay on the judgment—the jury verdict forced the company to record an additional "provision for legal proceedings" of 402.5 billion JPY ($2.5 billion) in its full-year 2025 earnings statements covering April 2025 through March 2026.
“While the recent U.S. jury verdict has led to the recognition of provisions for legal proceedings in our FY2025 reported earnings, we will appeal,” chief financial officer Milano Furuta emphasized in a recent company press release. “This matter doesn’t change our fundamental business momentum nor our guidance for FY2026.”
With the charge, Takeda’s originally reported net profit of 192 billion JPY ($1.19 billion) was adjusted to a 152 billion JPY ($949.17 million) loss. Takeda logged 4.5 trillion JPY ($28 billion) in total revenue for the year, which remains unchanged.
Last month’s verdict was the first time a jury found a drugmaker liable in a pay-for-delay antitrust case. The suit was filed in 2021 by pharmacies, health funds, insurers and retailers, who claim Takeda conspired with a competitor to delay generic entry of its constipation drug Amitiza, forcing them to overpay for the drug.
The ruling is broken down into a $475 million award for direct purchasers, while individual retailers are in line for $347 million in damages, which can be tripled upon a final entry of judgement.
The company no longer sells the med, as its license agreement with former partner Sucampo Pharmaceuticals let up in 2024. Takeda and Sucampo inked a $210 million settlement with Par Pharmaceutical in 2014, delaying a generics launch of the 2006-approved drug from Par and others until 2021.
“We remain firm in our conviction that the plaintiffs’ case lacks merit, and we will vigorously pursue post-trial motions and an appeal,” Takeda said in a statement after the ruling. “We also believe that there were both evidentiary and legal errors made during the trial. While we are disappointed with this outcome, we thank the jury for its service.”
The company will “continue to assess” the potential financial impacts of the litigation, with the judgment expected to come down later this year and “further proceedings thereafter,” Takeda said in its June 5 release.
The Japanese drugmaker put its revenue forecast for fiscal year 2026 at 4.64 trillion JPY ($28.9 billion) when it announced its full-year earnings report, days before the verdict came in. The drugmaker is “at an inflection point,” as Furuta said, with three major launches planned for the coming year in narcolepsy treatment oveporexton, polycythemia vera candidate rusfertide and psoriasis medicine zasocitinib.
Meanwhile, the company’s ongoing “transformation program” looks to save more than 200 billion yen ($1.26 billion) in annualized savings by 2028 and will spark reductions of about 4,500 roles over the 2026 financial year, Takeda reported last month.