OREANDA-NEWS. Takeda Pharmaceuticals International GmbH (“Takeda”) today announced that Giles Platford has been appointed Head of Commercial Operations, Emerging Markets, reporting to Christophe Weber, Chief Operating Officer of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited as of April 1, 2014.

In this role he will be responsible for leading the continued expansion of Takeda's commercial activities in this region, which comprises Russia-CIS, Latin America, Middle East/Africa and South Asia.

A UK national, Platford has been with Takeda since 2009. Most recently, he served as Head of the Middle East, Turkey, Africa (META) region where he restructured the business, generating 60% of growth versus previous year in the first three quarters of the fiscal year. Prior to this, Platford was General Manager of Takeda Brazil, where he led the successful acquisition of Multilab, a mid-sized company focused on branded generics and over-the-counter (OTC) products, positioning Takeda as one of the top 10 pharmaceutical groups in Brazil. He previously spent eight years in the pharmaceutical industry in Asia Pacific, assuming various Business Development, Commercial and General Management roles.

Takeda's commercial goal is to adopt a flexible and targeted approach for each individual market, combining innovative, novel products with well-established, branded generics and OTC products. Emerging markets are expected to contribute 70% of total global pharmaceutical market growth between 2013 and 2017 (IMS Health).

Headquartered in Zurich as a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Osaka, Japan, the Company has a commercial presence covering more than 70 countries, with particular strength in Asia, North America, Europe and fast-growing emerging markets including Latin America, Russia-CIS and China. Areas of focus include cardiovascular and metabolic, oncology, respiratory and immunology, central nervous system, general medicine, and vaccines.

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 strive towards better health for people worldwide through leading innovation in medicine. Through the integration of Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Nycomed, Takeda has been transforming itself, broadening its therapeutic expertise and geographic outreach.