Author: jezzabellemente

− Company further sharpens focus on patient access to innovative medicines in Latin America

− Transaction further accelerates deleveraging

OSAKA, Japan, March 3 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) — Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE:4502/NYSE:TAK) (“Takeda”) today announced that it has entered into an agreement to divest a portfolio of select non-core products exclusively in Latin America to Hypera S.A. (“Hypera Pharma”), Brazil’s largest pharmaceutical company with a leading position in branded prescriptions, consumer health and branded generics, for a total value of $825M USD.

The portfolio includes over-the-counter and prescription pharmaceutical products sold in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Peru, which are part of Takeda’s Growth & Emerging Markets Business Unit.

“Takeda remains firmly committed to the emerging markets, and Latin America. This divestment enables us to focus our investments in these countries that center on our highly innovative medicines across Gastroenterology, Rare Diseases, Plasma-Derived Therapies, Oncology and Neuroscience,” said Ricardo Marek, President, Growth & Emerging Markets Business Unit, Takeda, “Doing so will help meet the unmet needs of patients living with complex and rare conditions. At the same time, we are confident that Hypera Pharma is well placed to provide patients with uninterrupted access to the products they will acquire.”

This is Takeda’s fifth divestment over the last 12 months, contributing to the Company’s goal to divest approximately $10 billion USD in non-core assets. Takeda intends to use the proceeds from its divestitures to continue to reduce its debt and accelerate rapid deleveraging toward its target of 2x net debt/adjusted EBITDA within March 2022 – March 2024.

Takeda previously announced the sales of TachoSil® to Ethicon for $400 million USD in May 2019, Xiidra® to Novartis for up to $5.3 billion USD in July 2019, non-core assets in countries spanning Near East, Middle East and Africa to Acino for over $200 million USD in October 2019, and a portfolio of non-core assets in Russia, Georgia, and a number of Commonwealth of Independent States countries to STADA for $660 million USD in November 2019.

The non-core products in this latest transaction generated revenues of approximately $215 million USD in Fiscal Year 2018, driven by sales of key products such as Neosaldina®, Nesina®, and Dramin®.

While these trusted products continue to play important roles in meeting patient needs, they are not within Takeda’s chosen business areas – Gastroenterology, Rare Diseases, Plasma-Derived Therapies, Oncology and Neuroscience – that are core to its global long-term strategy. Their divestment enables the Company to further focus on its key business areas through simplifying its portfolio.

“This announcement marks the latest step in Takeda’s strategy of streamlining and optimizing our portfolio while accelerating our deleveraging. By continuing to focus on our key business areas and pipeline of innovative medicines, we will strengthen our position as a R&D driven global biopharmaceutical leader and deliver enhanced value for patients and Takeda shareholders,” said Costa Saroukos, Chief Financial Officer, Takeda.

Transaction Details

Takeda has entered into an agreement to divest the rights, title, and interest to the products in a portfolio of approximately 18 select OTC and prescription pharmaceutical assets sold in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Peru – to Hypera Pharma for a total value of $825M USD.

Under the terms of the agreement, Takeda anticipates that approximately 300 commercial employees supporting the divested assets will be given the opportunity to transition over to Hypera Pharma at the close of this transaction.

Takeda and Hypera Pharma have also entered into a manufacturing and supply agreement under which Takeda will continue to manufacture these products and supply them to Hypera Pharma.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2020, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Until then, Takeda remains the owner of these products and responsible for ensuring patient access to them.

Takeda is being advised by BofA Securities (financial advisor) and White & Case (legal advisor) in this transaction.

About Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE:4502/NYSE:TAK) is a global, values-based, R&D-driven biopharmaceutical leader headquartered in Japan, committed to bringing Better Health and a Brighter Future to patients by translating science into highly-innovative medicines. Takeda focuses its R&D efforts on four therapeutic areas: Oncology, Rare Diseases, Neuroscience, and Gastroenterology (GI). We also make targeted R&D investments in Plasma-Derived Therapies and Vaccines. We are focusing on developing highly innovative medicines that contribute to making a difference in people’s lives by advancing the frontier of new treatment options and leveraging our enhanced collaborative R&D engine and capabilities to create a robust, modality-diverse pipeline. Our employees are committed to improving quality of life for patients and to working with our partners in health care in approximately 80 countries.

For more information, visit https://www.takeda.com.

Important Notice

For the purposes of this notice, “press release” means this document, any oral presentation, any question and answer session and any written or oral material discussed or distributed by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (“Takeda”) regarding this release. This press release (including any oral briefing and any question-and-answer in connection with it) is not intended to, and does not constitute, represent or form part of any offer, invitation or solicitation of any offer to purchase, otherwise acquire, subscribe for, exchange, sell or otherwise dispose of, any securities or the solicitation of any vote or approval in any jurisdiction. No shares or other securities are being offered to the public by means of this press release. No offering of securities shall be made in the United States except pursuant to registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or an exemption therefrom. This press release is being given (together with any further information which may be provided to the recipient) on the condition that it is for use by the recipient for information purposes only (and not for the evaluation of any investment, acquisition, disposal or any other transaction). Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of applicable securities laws.

The companies in which Takeda directly and indirectly owns investments are separate entities. In this press release, “Takeda” is sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Takeda and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words “we”, “us” and “our” are also used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release and any materials distributed in connection with this press release may contain forward-looking statements, beliefs or opinions regarding Takeda’s future business, future position and results of operations, including estimates, forecasts, targets and plans for Takeda. Without limitation, forward-looking statements often include words such as “targets”, “plans”, “believes”, “hopes”, “continues”, “expects”, “aims”, “intends”, “ensures”, “will”, “may”, “should”, “would”, “could” “anticipates”, “estimates”, “projects” or similar expressions or the negative thereof. Forward-looking statements in this document are based on Takeda’s estimates and assumptions only as of the date hereof. Such forward-looking statements do not represent any guarantee by Takeda or its management of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including but not limited to: the economic circumstances surrounding Takeda’s global business, including general economic conditions in Japan and the United States; competitive pressures and developments; changes to applicable laws and regulations; the success of or failure of product development programs; decisions of regulatory authorities and the timing thereof; fluctuations in interest and currency exchange rates; claims or concerns regarding the safety or efficacy of marketed products or product candidates; the timing and impact of post-merger integration efforts with acquired companies; and the ability to divest assets that are not core to Takeda’s operations and the timing of any such divestment(s), any of which may cause Takeda’s actual results, performance, achievements or financial position to be materially different from any future results, performance, achievements or financial position expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. For more information on these and other factors which may affect Takeda’s results, performance, achievements, or financial position, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors” in Takeda’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F and Takeda’s other reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, available on Takeda’s website at: https://www.takeda.com/investors/reports/sec-filings/ or at www.sec.gov. Future results, performance, achievements or financial position of Takeda could differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements. Persons receiving this press release should not rely unduly on any forward-looking statements. Takeda undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release or any other forward-looking statements it may make, except as required by law or stock exchange rule. Past performance is not an indicator of future results and the results of Takeda in this press release may not be indicative of, and are not an estimate, forecast or projection of Takeda’s future results.

View source version on businesswire.com: 
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200302005426/en/

Contact

Investor Relations Contact:
Takashi Okubo 
+81-(0)3-3278-2306
takeda.ir.contact@takeda.com

Media Inquiries:
Sandy Rodriguez
Head, Integration & Divestiture Communications
sandy.rodriguez@takeda.com

Vince Docherty
Head, Communications, GEM Business Unit
vince.docherty@takeda.com.

Kazumi Kobayashi (Japan)
+81 (0)3-3278-2095
kazumi.kobayashi@takeda.com

Source : Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., March 3 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — TOMI Environmental Solutions, Inc.^® (“TOMI”) (OTCQB:TOMZ), is a global company specializing in disinfection and decontamination, utilizing its premier Binary Ionization Technology (BIT) platform through its SteraMist products – a hydrogen peroxide-based mist and fog composed of ionized Hydrogen Peroxide (iHP). In the continuing effort to combat coronavirus (COVID-19) both overseas and domestically, SteraMist has officially been declared the official decontamination technology of the Seoul City Metro Transit in South Korea.

South Korea’s national total of COVID-19 cases has grown to over 4,000 according the South Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). Detecting the early stages of COVID-19 infection can prove to be difficult, and direct contact with the virus that are on common surfaces such as railings, vending machines and train seats in rapid transit systems worldwide are thought to be a mechanism for transference.

An established five-year TOMI authorized distributor in South Korea, GD Sciences, has begun to address this problem by utilizing SteraMist technology in transit systems, focusing primarily on the metropolitan transit system of South Korea’s capital city, Seoul. The annual ridership of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway is over 1.2 billion. This application has allowed SteraMist to become a critical line of defense as a preventative measure against the rapid spread of COVID-19.

Joseph So, the CEO of GD Sciences, states, “We experienced a similar outbreak with MERS years ago and have dealt with these types of infectious disease outbreaks in the past. The number of confirmed patients is higher than five years ago, but rest assured that Seoul’s Metro System is in safe hands with the use of SteraMist decontamination equipment and its rapid ease of application with six-log (99.9999%) efficacy.”

On-site application of SteraMist has been tested throughout transportation venues in the metro subway trains, treating surfaces such as seating, handles, vending machines, walls, floors, and doors. Joining the workers treating the area with SteraMist was Seoul’s mayor, Park Won-soon. Seeing the success of SteraMist disinfection, the mayor has hired GD Science to service the Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corporation (SMRT).

TOMI’s CEO, Dr. Halden Shane, states, “We are pleased to announce this opportunity to help protect the city of Seoul and fight the ongoing threat of COVID-19 by ensuring a healthier transit environment through SteraMist. Just as new cases of infection are continuously growing in countries around the world, this is yet another step in our commitment to global cooperation as we continue to innovate for a safer world in the face of new and existing pathogen threats.”

TOMI^™ Environmental Solutions, Inc.: Innovating for a safer world^®

TOMI^™ Environmental Solutions, Inc. (OTCQB:TOMZ) is a global decontamination and infection prevention company, providing environmental solutions for indoor surface disinfection through the manufacturing, sales and licensing of its premier Binary Ionization Technology^® (BIT^™) platform. Invented under a defense grant in association with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the U.S. Department of Defense, BIT^™ solution utilizes a low percentage Hydrogen Peroxide as its only active ingredient to produce a fog of ionized Hydrogen Peroxide (iHP^™). Represented by the SteraMist^® brand of products, iHP^™ produces a germ-killing aerosol that works like a visual non-caustic gas.

TOMI products are designed to service a broad spectrum of commercial structures, including, but not limited to, hospitals and medical facilities, cruise ships, office buildings, hotel and motel rooms, schools, restaurants, meat and produce processing facilities, military barracks, police and fire departments, and athletic facilities. TOMI products and services have also been used in single-family homes and multi-unit residences.

TOMI develops training programs and application protocols for its clients and is a member in good standing with The American Biological Safety Association, The American Association of Tissue Banks, Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, America Seed Trade Association, and The Restoration Industry Association.

For additional information, please visit http://www.tomimist.com/ or contact us at info@tomimist.com.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

Certain written and oral statements made by us may constitute “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Reform Act”). Forward-looking statements are identified by such words and phrases as “we expect,” “expected to,” “estimates,” “estimated,” “current outlook,” “we look forward to,” “would equate to,” “projects,” “projections,” “projected to be,” “anticipates,” “anticipated,” “we believe,” “could be,” and other similar phrases. All statements addressing operating performance, events, or developments that we expect or anticipate will occur in the future, including statements relating to revenue growth, earnings, earnings-per-share growth, or similar projections, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Reform Act. They are forward-looking, and they should be evaluated in light of important risk factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from our anticipated results. The information provided in this document is based upon the facts and circumstances known at this time. We undertake no obligation to update these forward-looking statements after the date of this release.

INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACT

Harold Paul
hpaul@tomimist.com

SOURCE : TOMI Environmental Solutions, Inc.

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 28 (Bernama) — MFPC welcomes the broad-based RM20 Billion economic stimulus plan to mitigate the economic pain of the rakyat. The very timely stimulus plan will help businesses and households manage aspects of personal finance and boost the sluggish economy. Key points that we wish to highlight include:-

Moratorium on Loans – We note that most financial institutions in the County have announced a moratorium period on affected businesses of individuals affected by the Covid-19 virus. We wish to remind Malaysians the importance of preparing for an individual emergency fund to avoid financial distress by having at least a 3-month buffer to tide over in times of trouble and difficulties. It is in our view that better managing temporary financial constraints should be part of an individuals and businesses longer-term financial plan.

Assistance for Affected Individuals – Malaysians will be pleased with the e-voucher for domestic travel made available through this stimulus. It would help the affected sectors tremendously, we are encouraged that it would promote local tourism and such rakyat-centric measures of personal income tax relief related to domestic tourism, should be utilised by Malaysians. One must also retain all receipts, although the filing of taxes is done electronically through e-filing for 7 years in line with the policies set by Inland Revenue Board. As for the one-off financial assistance of RM600 and the addition Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH), we have held to the view that it would always be better if could teach individuals to save rather than giving them cash-handouts. Poor knowledge of the management of personal finance must be corrected for the longer term for Malaysia’s economic growth. The circulation of money will be a booster for the economy and as such the RM10 Billion anticipated worth of private consumption is seen as a good measure.

Human Capital Development – The enlarged focus to further invest in raising the productivity of human capital, we call upon affected individuals and businesses to encourage adult learning especially in the management of cash flow and basic budgeting. This would help all sectors be better prepared for such eventualities in the future. The Council has numerous free financial literacy programmes named, My Money & Me for members of the public. In line with the National Strategy for Financial Literacy through the Financial Education Network (FEN), the Council is heightening its public literacy series. The Council invites interested entities affected by the current scenario to engage with us as we attempt to make it possible for affected employees to be better equipped with financial planning knowledge.

President of MFPC, Vincent Kwo Shih Kang said, “The economic reliefs announced would help the viability of the economy in the long run”. All Malaysians must band together during this trying times so that the country’s economic path will be safeguarded as we hope for the virus to end soon. MFPC looks forward for Malaysia’s GDP for the year 2020 to be closer to the 4.0% mark and for heightening stability of our local bourse.

Source: Malaysian Financial Planning Council (MFPC)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Name: Nazmi Hakim Mahmud
Officer External Relations & Project Management
MALAYSIAN FINANCIAL PLANNING COUNCIL (MFPC)
Tel: +603-6203 5899 (ext: 242) / 017-3687035
Fax: +603-6201 2669  
Email: hakim@mfpc.org.my

—BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 — A total of 115 youth representatives, who are the members of National Youth (U-19) and officials of the Football Associations of four ASEAN countries and Timor-Leste, are visiting Japan from today to March 4.

The four ASEAN countries are Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia and Myanmar, according to a statement.

The visit is part of Japan’s Friendship Ties Programmes, ‘JENESYS 2019’, promoted by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The participants will visit Kagoshima Prefecture for international friendly football matches. They will also have a programme to interact with Japanese high school students, have lectures on the theme, and visit theme-related facilities such as the Japan Football Museum.

Via the programme, it is hoped the friendly relationship among Japan, the four ASEAN countries and Timor-Leste will be strengthened, and the participants will proactively share Japan’s attractions which they have experienced upon returning to their home country.

The programme is intended to promote people-to-people exchanges between Japan and the various nations and Asia-Pacific regions. It also encourages an understanding of Japan’s economics, society, history, diverse culture, politics and diplomatic relations among participants. 

— BERNAMA

XI’AN, China, Feb. 24, 2020 /Xinhua-AsiaNet/ —

As China continues to tackle the novel coronavirus outbreak, its industries have started to return to work in an orderly manner. Xi’an, one of the national central cities and an important scientific research, educational and industrial base in China, has recently introduced a number of measures to help enterprises pull through the difficult times and speed up their resumption of production, such as optimizing government services, delaying social security payments, stabilizing employment with subsidies and increasing credit support.
 
According to statistics released by Xi’an Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, as of February 19, more than 400 enterprises in Xi’an have resumed production. A total of 34 large industrial enterprises have resumed work and production, accounting for 75.6% of all the 45 large industrial enterprises. Production capacity has also been gradually restored, as 9 large enterprises with production and sales of over RMB10 billion have fully or partially resumed production, such as Shaanxi Automobile Holdings Limited and Samsung (China) Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
 
On February 10, Shaanxi Fast Auto Drive Group Co., Ltd. headquartered in Xi’an, began to resume production. With strictly implemented epidemic prevention measures, it has promptly restarted multiple production lines like the gear processing line in order to meet urgent market needs. On February 14, Shaanxi Automobile Holdings also resumed production, with more than 2,000 employees back to work and one production line restarted. More than 12,000 employees have so far returned to work at Huawei Xi’an Research Institute. Micron Semiconductor (Xi’an) Co., Ltd. has restored 80% of its production capacity.
 
Xi’an International Trade & Logistics Park, China’s largest inland port, has set up a green channel service. With the service, trucks do not need to stop, drivers do not need to get out of their cockpits, and traffic does not need to wait outside of the station. Epidemic prevention measures are fully implemented, such as disinfection and decontamination, temperature measurement and registration. All these measures help ensure the smooth operation of the China-Europe Chang’an freight train service. The China-Europe Chang’an freight train made a total of 200 trips in January, 2.4 times that of the same period last year. Affected by the outbreak, the Chang’an international freight train has slowed down its operation, but it still maintains the frequency of one trip per day.
 
As enterprises resume production, personnel mobility is increasing. In order to stop the virus from spreading, the Xi’an government provides “one-on-one” services for enterprises returning to work, to help them implement prevention and control measures such as quarantine and observation, nucleic acid testing and environmental decontamination. Meanwhile, the government is fully committed to coordinating efforts to solve problems that these enterprises face regarding personnel, transportation, dining and accommodation. The Xi’an government introduces a number of measures to help small and medium-sized enterprises resume work, such as reducing or exempting rents, providing interest subsidies, and helping enterprises develop markets.
 
Xi’an will centrally arrange a special fund of 200 million yuan to support the employment of local enterprises, and a special fund of 1 billion yuan to support local enterprises in vocational training for employees. Xi’an will offer a full subsidy for the expenses of the enterprises incurred in transporting employees with booked vehicles and train compartments; offer a partial subsidy for the transportation costs of personnel returning to work on their own; and offer a full subsidy for the costs of nucleic acid testing.
 
Source: Xi’an Bureau of Industry and Information Technology