A few months after a new CEO stepped up to helm Takeda, the drugmaker will now have to prepare for another leadership change as its long-time R&D head plans his exit.
Takeda’s R&D chief Andy Plump will say good-bye to the drugmaker, with a retirement slated for next summer.
“Andy has made the personal decision to retire in June 2027 after more than 10 years leading Takeda’s global R&D organization and a successful career,” a Takeda spokesperson told BioSpace. “We appreciate Andy’s tremendous contributions and are managing a planned transition designed to maintain continuity and sustain the strong momentum across our R&D organization.”
In total, Plump has logged about 12 years at the Japanese drugmaker. He will continue to lead R&D until a successor is announced, according to a Thursday release. He will also remain an active board member until June 2027.
Once a new R&D leader is selected, Plump will work closely with them to “ensure a smooth and seamless transition of responsibilities,” the company said. The transition builds on several years of change at Takeda, including a massive reorganization that began in 2024 and included 4,500 job cuts earlier this year.
As the company anticipates declines in revenue and profit for the fiscal year, new CEO Julie Kim has taken the lead of the company’s continued efforts for efficiency, succeeding Christophe Weber this June.
The initiative impacted Takeda’s R&D efforts, with Plump guiding a narrowed pipeline from more than 10 modalities to just four: small molecules, biologics, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and allogeneic cell therapies. Then, late last year, the drugmaker axed cell therapy from that list, following a wave of other Big Pharmas deprioritizing the technology.
Takeda chose to zero in on transitioning its existing late-stage pipeline to commercial success. As for earlier-stage work, Takeda implemented artificial intelligence across its discovery engine and research workflows after striking up a partnership with AI antibody designer Nabla Bio.
“Under his leadership, Takeda’s pipeline was rebuilt with an innovative therapeutic area focus and we now have a robust late-stage pipeline which has delivered three transformative medicines that we are poised to launch in the coming months,” Kim said in a prepared statement on Thursday.
This year, Takeda has secured FDA approval for the first-in-class narcolepsy med Orzeyful, plus the regulatory greenlight for Protaganist-partnered Mimrylo in polycythemia vera. Regulatory submissions are also underway for TYK2 inhibitor zasocitinib in plaque psoriasis after about 70% of patients achieved clear or almost clear skin at week 16 in late-stage studies.
Before Takeda, Plump held senior roles at both Sanofi and Merck.
“Leading Takeda R&D has been one of the greatest privileges of my career,” Plump wrote in a LinkedIn post on Thursday. “Above all, I am grateful for Takeda’s people. Your curiosity, courage and persistence have inspired me, challenged my thinking and expanded my sense of what science can make possible for patients.
“As I look towards retirement, I do so with profound gratitude and great confidence in the future of Takeda R&D,” Plump said. “The strength of our science, leadership, partnerships and teams gives me tremendous optimism for what lies ahead.”
