Building on 240 years of innovation through business development | Takeda Stories

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Marcello Agosti shares his perspective and what drives him in his role leading Business Development (BD)

“The most essential aspect of any partnership is ensuring it has the potential to bring value to patients by addressing an unmet need.”

This statement from Marcello Agosti, Takeda’s global business development officer, is informed by his experience making deals, as well as his experience engaging with patients.

“Over the years, I have had the privilege of meeting many patients who have shared their struggles with me, including members of my own family, and those stories have stayed with me,” Marcello says.

“But these patients need more than my compassion. They need me to break through the complexity of our industry and solve complex problems so that new therapies can potentially reach them. That complexity, that problem-solving challenge, is what drives me.”

Solving such problems is what Marcello has done for the last eight years, identifying and pursuing new opportunities that expand the company’s pipeline and portfolio.

“I have the view that my team is core to company strategy, securing the best possible deals with the best possible terms and long-term prospects for Takeda, our shareholders and of course, the patients we serve. We’re building on our legacy of more than 240 years of innovation,” Marcello says.

The largest deal Marcello’s team has led was the acquisition of Shire in 2019. Hailed at the time – and still today – as one of the largest and boldest acquisitions in the pharmaceutical industry, this deal greatly expanded Takeda’s size and portfolio, including therapeutics in rare disease and neuroscience.

The 2023 acquisition of zasocitinib^* from Nimbus Therapeutics brought an investigational next-generation, highly selective and potent oral allosteric tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2) inhibitor now in late-stage development in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. With deep experience in other immune-mediated diseases like ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, this acquisition gave Takeda the opportunity to explore new areas of unmet need within immunology.

And in Oncology, Marcello and team have been active in negotiating deals to build on Takeda’s strengths. For example, the 2023 licensing agreement with Hutchmed for the further development and commercialization of FRUZAQLA™ (fruquintinib) expanded the company’s footprint in colorectal cancer. And in December 2024, the team signed an exclusive licensing agreement^** with Keros Therapeutics to further develop, manufacture and commercialize a late-stage investigational activin inhibitor designed to treat anemia associated with certain hematologic cancers.

Our industry is taking note of this creative approach. The AC Immune Exclusive Option and License Agreement for an active immunotherapy targeting amyloid beta for Alzheimer’s Disease received the 2024 European Lifestars Award for Deal of the Year (>€500M). This deal, as well as the license and collaboration agreement with Protagonist Therapeutics for its investigational treatment for a rare blood disorder, was also nominated for the 2024 Scrip Awards Deal of the Year.

While Marcello is proud of the company’s reputation, he says humility is also good for business.

“We recognize that innovation happens everywhere. We are humble enough to understand our own strengths and where others excel,” he says. “We are clear-eyed and ready to make tough decisions about internal and external opportunities to meet patient needs and drive business growth.”

This approach means the BD team is open to a variety of deal types, from product deals, platform deals, licensing, options or mergers and acquisitions. “We start with the ‘what’ we want to achieve, and then get creative with the ‘how,’” says Marcello.

Business development inherently involves risk, and while not all deals reach their full potential, each provides valuable insights to apply when assessing prospects.

Understanding partners’ values and how they compare to Takeda’s is another critical part of the vetting process, adds Marcello. “We’ve walked away from deals where we don’t see our values aligning. A very top-down culture built around one person who everyone else idolizes and defers to – even if the financials are good – is going to clash with ours,” he says.

Marcello takes pride in the company’s culture and reputation as a fair partner. “Our decision-making process – considering patient, trust, reputation and business, in that order – which is familiar to everyone at our company – is becoming known to our partners as well,” he says. “Our partners also tell me they’re impressed by how agile and empowered we are as a team considering the company’s large size.”

Marcello emphasizes Takeda’s focus on continuing to strengthen the company’s presence in its core therapeutic areas of Gastrointestinal and Inflammation, Oncology, Neuroscience, and within each, rare diseases.

“We have a strong late-stage pipeline and are now looking for earlier-stage assets. We’re being very targeted and fiscally disciplined as we evaluate new opportunities. And for me, embracing challenges and solving complex problems – that’s the best way I can help the patient at the center.”