--- title: "Takeda Names Julie Kim CEO, Capping an 18-Month Transition From Weber" description: "Takeda Pharmaceutical, Japan's largest drugmaker, formally appointed Julie Kim as president and chief executive on June 24, completing an 18-month handover from Christophe Weber and elevating a former U.S. business chief to the top of a company managing major patent expirations." category: "Companies" category_url: https://boursel.com/category/companies author: "Priya Venkatesan" published: 2026-06-24T08:32:00.000Z updated: 2026-06-24T08:32:00.000Z canonical: https://boursel.com/article/takeda-names-julie-kim-ceo tags: ["takeda", "julie-kim", "pharmaceuticals", "ceo-transition", "japan"] --- # Takeda Names Julie Kim CEO, Capping an 18-Month Transition From Weber Takeda Pharmaceutical, Japan's largest drugmaker, formally appointed Julie Kim as president and chief executive on June 24, completing an 18-month handover from Christophe Weber and elevating a former U.S. business chief to the top of a company managing major patent expirations. Takeda Pharmaceutical said Julie Kim took over as representative director, president and CEO on June 24, the final step in a leadership transition the company first outlined in January 2025. The appointment followed [Takeda's annual general meeting of shareholders in Osaka](https://www.takeda.com/newsroom/newsreleases/2026/takeda-board-candidates-representative-director-change/), where investors elected Kim as an internal director. Christophe Weber, who had led the company for roughly a decade, [retired from Takeda and its board the same day](https://www.takeda.com/newsroom/newsreleases/2025/julie-kim-appointed-successor-ceo/). The company [announced on Jan. 30, 2025](https://www.takeda.com/newsroom/newsreleases/2025/julie-kim-appointed-successor-ceo/) that its board had unanimously chosen Kim to succeed Weber, setting up an unusually long, roughly 18-month transition. Weber, a French executive, had been Takeda's first non-Japanese chief executive and oversaw the company's transformation into a global drugmaker, including the roughly $59 billion acquisition of Ireland's Shire in 2019. ## Who Julie Kim is Kim joined Takeda through that Shire deal. According to [her company biography](https://www.takeda.com/about/leadership/julie-kim/), she has since held roles of increasing scope, including president of the Plasma-Derived Therapies Business Unit and, since April 2022, president of the U.S. Business Unit — Takeda's largest market. Before Takeda, she worked at Baxter, Baxalta and Shire, with assignments spanning the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Hong Kong and the United States. She holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School. Kim's appointment carries a notable distinction. Multiple outlets, including [Korea Biomedical Review](https://www.koreabiomed.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=26465), described her as the first Korean American to lead a global pharmaceutical company. ## The business she inherits She takes over a company of substantial scale but real near-term pressure. Takeda is Japan's largest pharmaceutical company by revenue, reporting full-year sales of about 4.5 trillion yen, roughly $28 billion, in its most recent fiscal year — a slight decline, [according to Fierce Pharma](https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/takeda-still-vyvanse-slog-lifts-guidance-it-looks-ahead-new-growth). The drop reflects what the industry calls a patent cliff: the loss of exclusivity on the attention-deficit drug Vyvanse, where generic competition cut sales sharply over the year. To offset those declines, Takeda has leaned on Entyvio, its top-selling treatment for inflammatory bowel disease, which generated about $4.9 billion over nine months. The company has also pointed investors toward a clutch of [six mid- and late-stage pipeline candidates](https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/jpm25-takeda-spotlights-6-later-stage-assets-could-subvert-entyvio-pressures-20b-collective) that it estimates could eventually deliver combined peak annual sales of $10 billion to $20 billion. Those figures are company projections, not realized results. Takeda has paired the pipeline push with cost cuts, including a restructuring program involving roughly 4,500 job reductions, [Fierce Pharma reported](https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/takeda-slimming-down-new-era-plots-4500-layoffs-latest-restructuring-drive). The handover was telegraphed well in advance, a contrast to more abrupt executive changes elsewhere in the industry. Whether Kim's U.S. commercial background translates into a smooth start atop an Osaka-based, globally listed company will become clearer as Takeda reports results under her leadership.