Takeda appoints Christophe Weber as its new CEO

Japanese pharma firm Takeda has promoted Christophe Weber, its former chief operating officer, to be president and chief executive officer of the firm.

This will become effective from April 1 this year. He will take over from the long-standing Yasuchika Hasegawa, who will become the new chairman of the board.

The firm says that Weber will also be the last person to fulfil the role of COO, as this position will no longer exist when he takes up the reins.

Weber, formerly of GlaxoSmithKline, said: “First, I would like to thank Yasuchika Hasegawa and the board of directors for their trust. I am honoured and thrilled with the role of CEO and determined to fulfil my duties. I will devote all my energy to leading the new Takeda organisation from April 1, 2015, and continue to make contributions to patients and healthcare professionals, to engage and motivate our employees, while responding to the expectations of investors and shareholders.”

Hasegawa added: “Since he became COO of the company last April, I have been supporting Christophe and at the same time carefully observing his performance as a CEO successor. I have concluded that he is ready to assume Takeda's CEO role, and therefore I have decided to appoint him CEO when the new organisational structure takes effect from April."

This also marks a cultural turning point for the Japanese company, which traditionally has promoted Japanese executives to top roles; Weber is the first non-native to take the CEO position at the company in its 200-year history.