BY Fraser Tennant
In a carve-out transaction from Mitsubishi Chemical Group Corporation, global private investment firm Bain Capital is to acquire Japanese drugmaker Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma (MTPC) for $3.3bn.
Founded in 1678 and headquartered in Osaka, MTPC focuses on several priority therapeutic areas, including immunology and inflammation, vaccines, central nervous system, diabetes and metabolic disease. The company employs over 5000 people globally.
“With the advancement of therapeutic drugs and diversification of modalities, the disease areas with unmet needs are gradually shrinking,” said Mitsubishi Chemical. “Moreover, given that possibility of success of drug discovery is not high, continuous additional investments are essential for enhancing MTPC’s research and development capabilities and achieving further growth.”
As an independent company, MTPC will continue to build on its legacy of medical innovation while developing new opportunities for growth through business development, licensing activities, enhanced research and development productivity, commercialisation and strategic acquisitions.
“MTPC has been delivering innovative medicines to Japanese patients for centuries, and we are proud to partner with the company and support its next phase of growth and evolution,” said Masa Suekane, a partner at Bain Capital Private Equity. “As a standalone, independent company, MTPC will benefit from the full support of Bain Capital’s global resources and our healthcare team’s extensive experience driving value creation across the healthcare value chain.”
Bain Capital’s global healthcare platform has deep experience supporting the growth and innovation of global pharmaceutical companies. The firm is also a leading investor and partner to businesses across Japan, with more than 70 investment professionals who have made over 37 investments since establishing its Tokyo office in 2006.
The acquisition of MTPC is being led by Bain Capital’s private equity teams in Asia and North America, together with the firm’s life sciences team.
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025 and is subject to customary closing conditions, regulatory clearance and shareholder approvals.
Ricky Sun, a partner at Bain Capital Life Sciences, concluded: “This is an exciting opportunity to leverage our team’s clinical insights and company creation support to build out a scale platform focused on long-term fundamental drug development in areas of significant unmet need to ultimately bring transformative medicines to patients in Japan and globally.”
News: Bain to buy Japan's Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma for $3.4 billion