Japan’s Takeda Sells Five Prescription Drugs to China’s Hasten for $322 Million

(Nikkei Asia) — Takeda Pharmaceutical will sell five prescription products to China’s Hasten Biopharmaceutic in a $322 million deal as Japan’s top drugmaker continues to slash debt from its acquisition of Ireland-based peer Shire.

The transaction is slated to close by the end of June and covers cardiovascular and metabolism treatments sold on the Chinese mainland, including the Ebrantil blood pressure reducer.

Net sales of these products reached $109.5 million in fiscal 2019. Sales personnel will be transferred to Hasten, while Takeda will produce and supply the products to the new owner.

Ebrantil is a product of Nycomed, a Swiss drug company Takeda acquired in 2011.

Takeda has been restructuring its business portfolio since the 2019 purchase of Shire, narrowing its specializations to five areas, such as oncology and rare diseases, and unloading noncore operations.

The value of its asset sales, including those yet to be closed, reaches up to $11.3 billion — exceeding the company’s divesture target of $10 billion.

This article was originally published by Nikkei Asia

Contact editor Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com)

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