Strategic Appointment of Former Novartis CMO

Daiichi Sankyo (TSE: 4568 / OTC: DSNKY) has appointed Dr. John Tsai as Global Head of R&D, effective April 1, 2026. Dr. Tsai previously served as President and Global Head of Drug Development and CMO at Novartis (NVS), where he oversaw 160 new projects and more than 500 clinical trials, leading to the approval of 15 new drugs, including gene therapies and radioligand therapies (RLT). Prior to that, he held CMO positions at Amgen (AMGN) and Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), and most recently led oncology, cardiovascular, and renal biotech ventures at venture capital firm Syncona. By appointing a leader with both big pharma R&D execution skills and VC innovation acumen as the previous leader, Dr. Ken Takeshita, retires, the company aims to simultaneously accelerate pipeline expansion and external innovation.

Key Figures in the FY2026-2030 Five-Year Plan

The five-year business plan announced on May 11, 2026, sets specific targets: FY2030 oncology sales of over 2.3 trillion yen (a 10% increase from FY2025's 2.1 trillion yen), total sales exceeding 3 trillion yen, operating income exceeding 600 billion yen, and EPS of over 260 yen. The company also presented a long-term vision to become a global top 5 oncology company by 2035. To achieve this, the roadmap includes securing more than 20 new indications for five oncology drugs and treating over 700,000 new patients annually by 2035. With a goal of exceeding 1 trillion yen in operating income in the early 2030s, the company is on a significant growth trajectory compared to its current market capitalization (approximately $32 to $36.5 billion).

Pipeline Power of the DXd ADC Platform

The core engine of the strategy is the company's proprietary DXd ADC (antibody-drug conjugate) platform. The flagship product, Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan, targeting HER2), recorded global sales of 698.4 billion yen (approximately $4.8 billion, +26.3% YoY) in FY2025, with a forecast of 861 billion yen for FY2026. Currently approved for seven indications, the plan is to expand to more than 12 indications by 2030. Datroway (datopotamab deruxtecan), an ADC targeting TROP2, is expected to be approved for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) in the summer of 2026, and ifinatamab deruxtecan (I-DXd), an ADC targeting B7-H3, has received Breakthrough Therapy designation from the FDA for small cell lung cancer (SCLC). In FY2026 alone, five new launches are planned, including four for breast cancer and one for lung cancer.

Global Partnership Network and Competitive Landscape

Daiichi Sankyo has two global co-development agreements with AstraZeneca (AZN) for Enhertu (totaling $6.9 billion, with an upfront payment of $1.35 billion in 2019) and Datroway (totaling $6 billion, with an upfront payment of $1 billion in 2020), and a collaboration with Merck (MRK) for three ADCs (HER3-DXd, I-DXd, and R-DXd), totaling $22 billion (with an upfront payment of $4 billion). The overall ADC market is expected to grow rapidly from approximately $15.6 billion in 2025 to $20.1 billion in 2026 and $32.1 billion in 2033. Pfizer (PFE) acquired Seagen for $43 billion, gaining access to four ADCs (Padcev, Adcetris, etc.) and a pipeline of 14, and AbbVie (ABBV) also joined the competition with the acquisition of ImmunoGen for $10.1 billion. Dr. Tsai's key mission is to maintain the technological leadership of the DXd platform in this M&A-driven competitive landscape.