(Bloomberg) -- Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. raised its full-year forecast for operating income by 18% to ¥265 billion ($1.7 billion) after a bumper second quarter, helped by key drug sales as well as cost savings in North America.
The outlook for operating income for the fiscal year ending March 2025 was previously ¥225 billion.
Net sales were ¥2.38 trillion for the six-month period that ended September, it said Thursday.
The positive outlook reflects the early success of the Japanese drugmaker’s broad restructuring plan, which it put into place after the loss of exclusive patent protection for one of its best-selling drugs, ADHD treatment Vyvanse.
It will lose exclusivity for its other best-seller, Entyvio, a treatment for ulcerative colitis, in the next few years as well. The company is looking to improve growth and profit margins by streamlining its workforce, and to use the money to invest in drugs and other assets in the pipeline as part of the overhaul.
The company’s plan, announced in May this year, will cost ¥140 billion ($900 million) during the 2024 fiscal year, with other, lower expenses expected in the following two years.
Takeda said the plan will span several years and involve investments in data and digital technologies to improve productivity. It will also “rigorously” prioritize research and development pipeline, it said in a statement.
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