When Christophe Weber went after his first deal as head of Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., he veered off the well-worn path to the U.S. and Europe and went to Japan's Kyoto University instead.
Earlier this year, Weber and Nobel laureate Shinya Yamanaka, based at Kyoto University, agreed on a 10-year partnership to develop therapies for conditions such as heart failure and diabetes. The ¥20 billion ($160 million) accord, announced less than three weeks after Weber became chief executive officer in April, was the biggest between a university and a pharmaceutical company in Japan.
"Takeda isn't even among the 10 largest drugmakers in the world," said Seigo Izumo, the company's head of scientific affairs for Japan, said in an interview. "We know we can't be a global leader following others. We want this to be a groundbreaking tie-up that will help us step up and be a global leader."