Yasuchika Hasegawa joined Takeda Chemical Industries, Ltd in 1970 and has risen through the ranks to his current appointment as President and Chief Executive Officer of the company in June 2009. He has also been President of Takeda since June 2003. Prior to this appointment, he was the General Manager, Corporate Strategy & Planning Department of Takeda as well as a member of the Board.

During his illustrious career with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, Mr Hasegawa spent five years in Chicago as President, TAP Pharmaceuticals, Inc., then President, TAP Holdings, Inc. He has also been involved in Takeda's two recent major acquisitions, the purchase of the US oncology company Millennium Pharmaceuticals in 2008, and the acquisition of Swiss biotech Nycomed in 2011, reported to be the largest ever cross-border takeover by a Japanese pharmaceutical company. Both of these deals have given Takeda better access to the European and US markets and the Nycomed purchase is predicted to significantly increase group sales and operating profits within three years of the acquisition.

Mr Hasegawa has seen Takeda through various changes in his career with the company, including the transformation from being just a domestic drug maker to a global bio-pharma player. This has made Takeda the top pharmaceutical company in Japan today. He has also provided a positive influence on the pharmaceutical industry by helping women take on some of the top jobs at Takeda and creating great role models for the industry.

Since April 2011, Mr Hasegawa has been serving as Chairman at the Board of Keizai Doyukai (Japan Associate of Corporate Executives).

Mr Hasegawa graduated from Waseda University in 1970.

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