Business Wire

NJ-DAIICHI-SANKYO

22.2.2021 13:02:07 CET | Business Wire | Press release

Share
Daiichi Sankyo Appoints Ken Takeshita, MD as Global Head of R&D

Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited (hereafter, Daiichi Sankyo) today announced Ken Takeshita, MD will be named the new Global Head of Research & Development as of April 1, 2021. On that date, Dr. Junichi Koga will retire from the position, after a successful and industrious career, including more than 12 years at Daiichi Sankyo.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210222005290/en/

Dr. Takeshita joins Daiichi Sankyo from Kite Pharma, a Gilead Company, where he was Senior Vice President and Global Head of Development since 2019, and interim Head of Research. Ken is a highly experienced physician with deep experience in oncology and rare diseases. Prior to Kite, he served as Senior Vice President of Clinical Research at Sorrento Therapeutics and Corporate Vice President of Clinical R&D at Celgene. He has led full-scale global drug development programs across hematological and solid tumors at Kite, Celgene and Amgen. Before joining the biopharmaceutical industry, Ken was on the faculty in Hematology at Yale University School of Medicine and New York University School of Medicine. He earned a bachelor’s degree in molecular biology from Harvard University and his medical degree from Yale University. He received post-doctoral training in hematology, oncology and developmental biology at Yale and in hematopoiesis at University of Tokyo.

“We are thrilled to welcome Ken into the Daiichi Sankyo family to lead global R&D in our continued transformation into a global oncology leader and to pursue world-class science and technology,” said Sunao Manabe, President and CEO, Daiichi Sankyo Company, Ltd. “Ken brings remarkable depth and breadth of experience to our organization – from first-hand patient care to overseeing more than 20 registrational trials leading to many regulatory approvals. I am confident that Ken is the right leader to bring Daiichi Sankyo into our next phase of drug discovery and development, as we innovate and deliver practice-changing medicines to our global community.”

“I am honored to join the Daiichi Sankyo R&D organization to seek to extend and improve lives of patients and eliminate cancer altogether,” said Dr. Ken Takeshita. “I have watched Daiichi Sankyo build and grow with admiration. I look forward to bringing the Company’s antibody drug conjugates and new, innovative modalities to more patients and to working in a unique company culture with Japanese roots, fitting of a world-class global organization,” said Dr. Takeshita.

“Junichi has been instrumental in shaping our current R&D portfolio, particularly in spearheading the establishment of our biologics research organization, out of which our incredibly promising ADC pipeline was born,” said Dr. Manabe. “We thank him for his dedication to patients and to Daiichi Sankyo and look forward to continuing to work with him as an advisor to me and our leaders in 2021.”

About Business Wire

Business Wire
Business Wire
101 California Street, 20th Floor
CA 94111 San Francisco

http://businesswire.com

Subscribe to releases from Business Wire

Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest releases from Business Wire

International Human Rights Lawyer Jared Genser and Former White House Counsel Lanny J. Davis Join Legal and Advocacy Team Supporting Cambodian Businessman Yim Leak, Seiden Law LLP Announces18.9.2026 19:52:00 CEST | Press release

Jared Genser, one of the world's most recognized international human rights lawyers, and Lanny J. Davis, an adviser to former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, join the legal and advocacy team for Cambodian businessman Yim Leak and challenge what they call a coordinated smear campaign in Thailand. International human rights lawyer Jared Genser and Lanny J. Davis, who has close ties to two former US presidents and a worldwide reputation for defending those under attack with lies and smears, and for repairing the damage done to their reputations, have joined the legal and advocacy team supporting Cambodian businessman Yim Leak, Seiden Law LLP, which serves as Yim Leak's chief global counsel, announced today. Their first move is to hold the Thai government accountable, framing its conduct as either complicit in or willfully blind to a sustained smear campaign against Yim. Genser is Managing Director of Perseus Strategies, an international law firm. Over more than two decades, he

Ningbo FEED Meeting Confirms Full Confidence in Q1 2027 FID for Allied Biofuels’ US$6.1 Billion Presidential Decree-Backed SAF and e-SAF Project18.9.2026 17:38:00 CEST | Press release

Allied Biofuels has held a major Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) meeting at Sinopec’s office in Ningbo, China, bringing together Allied Biofuels, Sinopec Engineering Group Co., Ltd. of China, Topsoe A/S of Denmark, Sasol South Africa Limited, and Plug Power of the United States — the principal international engineering and technology providers supporting its US$6.1 billion Presidential Decree-backed Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and e-SAF project in Uzbekistan. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260918708077/en/ FEED Meeting - Ningbo, China At the joint FEED meeting of the project’s core engineering and technology stakeholders, the discussions established clear alignment on engineering responsibilities, technology interfaces, design deliverables, project integration and the coordinated execution programme required to advance the project through FEED. All stakeholders working on the project expressed full co

Corcept Announces CHMP Opinion Recommending EU Marketing Authorization for Lifyorli® (Relacorilant)18.9.2026 14:00:00 CEST | Press release

Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (NASDAQ: CORT), a commercial-stage company engaged in the discovery and development of medications to treat severe endocrinologic, oncologic, metabolic and neurologic disorders by modulating the effects of the hormone cortisol, today announced that the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has recommended that the European Commission (EC) should approve relacorilant, combined with the chemotherapy drug nab-paclitaxel, for the treatment of patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. The CHMP’s recommendation is based on positive data from Corcept’s Phase 2 and pivotal Phase 3 ROSELLA trials, in which patients receiving relacorilant combined with nab-paclitaxel experienced improved progression-free and overall survival compared to patients who received nab-paclitaxel alone. The safety profile of relacorilant plus nab-paclitaxel in these trials was consistent with the safety profile of nab-paclitaxel monoth

Enhertu® Recommended for Approval in the EU by CHMP as Adjuvant Treatment for Patients with Residual Disease After Neoadjuvant Treatment for HER2 Positive Early Breast Cancer18.9.2026 14:00:00 CEST | Press release

Recommendation based on DESTINY-Breast05 phase 3 trial results that showed Enhertu reduced the risk of invasive disease recurrence or death by 53% versus T-DM1 Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca’s Enhertu has the potential to become a new standard of care in this early breast cancer setting Enhertu® (trastuzumab deruxtecan) has been recommended for approval in the European Union (EU) as a monotherapy for the adjuvant treatment of adult patients with resected HER2 positive breast cancer who have residual invasive disease after neoadjuvant taxane-based and HER2 targeted treatment. Enhertu is a specifically engineered HER2 directed DXd antibody drug conjugate (ADC) discovered by Daiichi Sankyo (TSE: 4568) and being jointly developed and commercialized by Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca (LSE/STO/NYSE: AZN). The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) based its positive opinion on results from the DESTINY-Breast05 phase 3 trial presented at th

CHMP Recommends EU Approval of New Indication for Alfasigma’s Jyseleca® (filgotinib), Treatment of Adults With Axial Spondyloarthritis18.9.2026 12:58:00 CEST | Press release

The information contained within this press release is for the purpose of scientific exchange.It is intended for scientific, financial and investor media only.If approved, Jyselecawill be indicated for the treatment of patients with active axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), both non-radiographic and radiographic forms of the disease, who have responded inadequately to conventional therapy.Despite the availability of multiple treatment options, nearly half of people living with axSpA do not respond adequately to current therapies, and just 10-20% reach inactive disease within 16-24 weeks of initiating treatment.CHMP’s positive opinion is based on findings from the OLINGUITO Phase 3 study, where improvements in the signs and symptoms of axSpA with filgotinib were observed early and maintained over 52 weeks of treatment.Jyselecais already approved in Europe and the United Kingdom, for the treatment of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis and ulcerative colitis. Alfasigma S.p.A, a global

In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.

Visit our pressroom
World GlobeA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye