3. Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (NYSE:TAK)
Short Interest as % of Shares Outstanding: 0.20%
Number of Hedge Fund Investors In Q2 2024: 10
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (NYSE:TAK) is a Japanese pharmaceutical company that develops and sells drugs for cancer, immune system disorders, rare diseases, and other ailments. Two of the firm’s hottest drugs right now are its dengue medication QDENGA and Colitis treatment ENTYVIO. QDENGA has been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a pre qualified dengue vaccine, and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (NYSE:TAK)’s partnerships with the Gavi medicine alliance should prove beneficial as it will allow the drug to expand its global outreach and benefit from established supply chains for distribution. ENTYVIO is also in the early stages of its US launch which could spell further revenue tailwinds for Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (NYSE:TAK). The firm is also expanding its market for a post surgical complication drug, and in a crucial win, its partnership with Hutchmed (#7th on this list) secured the FDA’s approval in October 2023 for the FRUQZALA drug for colon cancer.
Another key factor for Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (NYSE:TAK)’s hypothesis is its pipeline which should help with future revenue as patents expire. Here’s what the firm had to say during the Q1 2024 earnings call:
“Over the remainder of the fiscal year, we expect multiple pipeline programs to progress into Phase III, and we are awaiting our R&D investment towards future quarter accordingly. We also expect VYVANSE generic erosion to come back in line with projection. We continue to be very focused on improving our core operating profit margin through our multiyear efficiency program. This program is focused on 3 areas of opportunity: increasing organizational agility, improving procurement savings and strengthening how we leverage data, digital and technology across Takeda.
Our progress on this program is on track. In Q1, we took concrete steps to improve organizational agility, for example, in R&D and in our U.S. commercial organization. We also identified and executed new procurement-led efficiencies. For example, we have been using data, technology and AI to optimize our supplier selection process. We believe that our investment in data, technology and AI will yield productivity and efficiency gain across our value chain. For example, in manufacturing and quality, our goal is to accelerate the release of drug batch, which will improve our working capital and our ability to supply it. We also took steps to further enrich our pipeline. We signed 2 option agreements for mid- and late-stage programs: one with Ascentage for olverembatinib for chronic myeloid leukemia and other hematological concerns; the other with AC Immune for ACI-24.060, an active immunotherapy designed to delay or slow Alzheimer’s disease progression.
Agreements such as these complement our existing pipeline and portfolio and all promise for enriching our pipeline in the future.”
