Andy Plump, M.D., Ph.D., president of research and development at Takeda, is set to leave the company in June.
Plump joined the Japanese drugmaker in 2015, arriving from Sanofi to initially serve as chief medical and scientific officer. Now, Plump has announced plans to retire from Takeda. The executive will continue to lead the R&D team until a successor is appointed and will then work with the new leader to smooth the transition before leaving the company next year.
News of Plump’s departure follows the development of molecules intended to drive growth at Takeda after a period in which the loss of exclusivity on ADHD drug Vyvanse dragged on sales. Last month, the company won FDA approvals for narcolepsy treatment Orzeyful and blood cancer drug Mimrylo.
Having recently shared positive phase 3 data on zasocitinib in psoriasis, Takeda is poised to add the TYK2 inhibitor to its stable of recently approved medicines. Since 2021, the company has won approval for the antiviral Livtencity, the blood clotting disorder drug Adzynma and the eosinophilic esophagitis therapy Eohilia.
Plump’s successor will inherit the challenge of continuing to launch new growth drivers to offset the loss of exclusivity on the inflammatory bowel disease drug Entyvio. While the recent approvals point to the success of some of Plump’s preparations for competition from Entyvio biosimilars, other R&D initiatives overseen by the outgoing executive have failed to deliver the hoped-for results.
Notably, Takeda’s play for the cell therapy market fizzled out, with the company exiting the modality last year and taking an impairment loss on its 2021 takeover of GammaDelta Therapeutics. A Crohn’s disease cell therapy, Alofisel, which Takeda acquired in its takeover of TiGenix, reached the European market but was withdrawn in the aftermath of a phase 3 failure.