Company still seeking to raise cash to pay down debt.
Following its $60 billion acquisition of Shire, Takeda has been unloading various assets to raise cash. Most recently, it hired J.P. Morgan to find potential buyers for several of its over-the-counter and off-patent prescription drugs in Western Europe.
According to reports, Takeda hopes to raise $1.68 billion. In total, the company would reduce its noncore assets –– those that do not fall within its priority (gastroenterology, rare diseases, plasma-derived therapies, oncology and neuroscience) –– by a total of $10 billion. So far, it has unloaded its dry eye drug Xiidra to Novartis for up to $5.3 billion and its TachoSil surgical patch to Johnson & Johnson. It is also finalizing a deal for its $1 billion Latin America business.
Potential buyers include anyone interested in gaining or expanding an existing position in the European healthcare market, from private equity firms to European, Indian and East Asian biopharma companies. Those buyers may have other possible targets to consider, though, including European OTC products that the new GlaxoSmithKline–Pfizer joint venture is expected to put on the market.