Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited announced that Costa Saroukos, chief financial officer, has decided to leave Takeda to return to his home-country of Australia to be closer to family. Mr. Saroukos will step down as CFO, effective April 1, 2024 and will remain with the company as a board director until June 28, 2024. Milano Furuta, president of Takeda?s Japan Pharma Business Unit (JPBU), will succeed Mr. Saroukos, effective April 1, 2024.

Mr. Furuta will report to Christophe Weber, president & CEO, and will be based in Tokyo, Japan. As CFO, Mr. Furuta will be proposed to the board of directors as a candidate for election to the board. Mr. Saroukos has played a pivotal role in Takeda?s transformation into a global biopharmaceutical company.

His leadership during the acquisition and integration of Shire PLC., the largest-ever overseas acquisition by a Japanese company, was a critical factor in the deal?s success, and his financial stewardship has helped position the company for a renewed focus on growth investment and shareholder returns. He joined Takeda in 2015 as the CFO of the EUCAN [Europe and Canada] Business Unit and was appointed global CFO in April 2018. Prior to joining Takeda in 2010, Mr. Furuta worked as an equity research analyst at an investment management firm in the United States.

Mr. Furuta began his career in 2000 in banking and private equity investment in Japan, where he was involved with several types of financial transactions, including leveraged buyouts and debt restructuring. Before becoming JPBU president, Mr. Furuta served as corporate strategy officer and chief of staff at Takeda, and has held multiple leadership roles with the company around the world. Mr. Furuta holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor?s degree in international affairs from Hitotsubashi University in Japan.