Lisa Takagi
Managing Editor
Lisa provides editorial coverage of all aspects of Japan’s prescription drug market for Scrip and Pink Sheet, including company, market, pricing and regulatory developments, as well as publishing podcast content regularly in the local Japanese language.
Lisa brings close to a decade of experience working in either international teams or reporting, writing and editing, including in broadcast media through an internship as a TV reporter in Canada. Most recently, she covered the IT sector for ITmedia Enterprise in Japan. Lisa is bilingual in Japanese and English. She speaks basic French and Mandarin with keen interests in learning new languages. She holds an MA in Fine Art from Tokyo University of the Arts as well as a Master’s in Journalism from the University of King’s College in Halifax, Canada.
Latest From Lisa Takagi
As Japan’s Syphilis Cases Surge, So Do Calls For More Therapeutics
As Japan faces skyrocketing syphilis cases, hopes have been high among domestic physicians for a single-dose therapeutic in the form of benzylpenicillin injection. But the country has approved the drug only recently and in answer to a push from doctors on the front line.
Asia Deal Watch: Avenue Takes On AnnJi’s Spinal And Bulbar Muscular Atrophy Candidate
Plus deals involving Ono/PeptiDream, Onconic/Livzon, Teijin/Novartis, Eisai/Biogen, Abbisko/Allist, Daewoong/M8, GC Biopharma/Catalyst and KYM Biosciences/AstraZeneca.
Japan Price Revision: Mixture of Cuts And Increases Amid Supply Crisis
Japan’s annual drug reimbursement price revision for 2023 will cut approximately $2.3bn from national healthcare costs, and while several temporary price increases have been granted to cope with an ongoing supply crisis for some products, a system of one-off revisions for big sellers remains.
Chugai Turns To Digital Platform To Improve Biopharma Manufacturing
Chugai is starting to implement a new digital platform at manufacturing sites in Japan that it says will improve efficiency and flexibility.
Astellas CEO Yasukawa On Gene Therapy Challenges, Deal Strategies
Despite facing two clinical holds for its gene therapy candidates, Astellas is committed to proceeding with R&D projects in this modality. Outgoing CEO Kenji Yasukawa says technical challenges have motivated the firm's recent deals with academia and bioventures, and also provided updates on other key pipeline assets in the second part of this exclusive interview with Scrip.
Astellas CEO Yasukawa On Enabling Faster R&D
Keeping the company focus on launching innovating drugs, Astellas CEO Kenji Yasukawa talks in part one of this exclusive interview on how the Japanese firm transformed its R&D processes to allow more flexible and agile decision-making beyond the wall of multiple sections.