Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited and its wholly-owned UK-based subsidiary for overseeing pan-European sales & marketing, Takeda Pharmaceutical Europe Limited jointly announced the start of its own sales and marketing operations in Spain, and also the expansion of its operations in the Republic of Ireland to cover the entire country, which used to be limited in a specific area.

In Spain, the fifth largest pharmaceutical market in Europe, Takeda Farmacéutica España S.A., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Takeda, will start promotional activities for Blopress (generic: candesartan cilexetil) and Glustin (generic: pioglitazone HCl, known in Japan, US and other European markets as Actos). In the Republic of Ireland, Takeda's wholly-owned subsidiary, Takeda UK Limited already expanded promotional activities for Actos in January this year.

"We are pleased with the expansion of geographical coverage in Spain, one of the most important markets in Europe, and also the nationwide coverage in the Republic of Ireland," said Erich Brunn, CEO of TPEU. "We will actively introduce products from our portfolio into these two countries, so that they will help many more patients suffering from a variety of diseases".

"The commencement of our own sales and marketing operations in Spain and the Republic of Ireland is contributing to one of our key management initiatives, namely the enhancement of our presence in each region of the world to further establish Takeda as a world-class pharmaceutical company", said Yasuchika Hasegawa, president of Takeda. "Through our continued efforts for geographical expansion in Europe, we anticipate that our European business will represent further more significance as well as our business in Japan and the United States."

Takeda now has its own sales and marketing operations in eight European countries: in addition to Spain and Ireland, there are wholly-owned subsidiaries in France, UK, Italy, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Located in Osaka, Japan, Takeda is a research-based global company with its main focus on pharmaceuticals. As the largest pharmaceutical company in Japan and one of the global leaders of the industry, Takeda is committed to striving toward better health for individuals and progress in medicine by developing superior pharmaceutical products.