When Christophe Weber went after his first deal as head of Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., he veered off the well-worn path to the U.S. and Europe and went to Japan¡¯s Kyoto University instead.
Earlier this year, Weber and Nobel laureate Shinya Yamanaka, based at Kyoto University, agreed on a 10-year partnership to develop therapies for conditions such as heart failure and diabetes. The ?20 billion ($160 million) accord, announced less than three weeks after Weber became chief executive officer in April, was the biggest between a university and a pharmaceutical company in Japan.
¡°Takeda isn¡¯t even among the 10 largest drugmakers in the world,¡± said Seigo Izumo, the company¡¯s head of scientific affairs for Japan, said in an interview. ¡°We know we can¡¯t be a global leader following others. We want this to be a groundbreaking tie-up that will help us step up and be a global leader.¡±
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