Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd.: Lessons from a Japanese Pharma Major

Takeda was established in 1781 in Japan as a small wholesale outfit dealing in medicines in Doshomachi, Osaka (a commercial center for medicine trade in Japan) by Chobei Takeda I. The wholesaler sold traditional Japanese and Chinese medicines (bought from bigger wholesalers) to local doctors and medicine retailers. In the decades that followed, Takeda emerged as a dominant player even as many big and small wholesalers and retailers mushroomed in the country. The Takeda family had been in the business of selling traditional medicines for over four generations. This business continued until 1871 when Chobei Takeda IV and a group of other medicine retailers decided to sell Western medicine as well.

The first Western medicines imported at that time included Quinine (used for treating malaria) and Phenol (used for treating cholera). By the mid-1890s, Takeda was importing drugs directly from US, England, Germany, Spain and many other countries. In 1895, the drugs selling business was extended to manufacturing drugs with a manufacturing facility being set up at Osaka. The factory produced drugs like Subgallate, used in treating diarrhea and Quinine Hydrochloride, used in treating malaria. By 1907, Takeda obtained exclusive sales rights from Bayer, a German pharmaceutical company, to sell its products in Japan. By the turn of the 20th century, Takeda shifted its primary focus to Western medicines...