HQ Team
February 11, 2025: Bain Capital, a US-based private investment company, will buy the pharmaceutical arm of the Mitsubishi Chemical Group Corp. for $3.3 billion, according to the Massachusetts-based firm.
Bain will pay about 510 billion Japanese yen for Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, and the deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025, according to a statement.
Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma will continue as a standalone independent company, and Bain Capital’s global resources and healthcare teams will drive value creation across the healthcare value chain, said Masa Suekane, a Partner and Head of Japan Healthcare, Industrials and Financial Services at Bain Capital Private Equity.
Tanabe Pharma will continue to develop “new opportunities for growth through business development, licensing activities, enhanced research and development, productivity, commercialisation and strategic acquisitions,” according to the statement.
‘Untapped Japan’s Life Science industry’
“Bain will partner with Tanabe Pharma Corporation and support its next phase of growth and evolution,” said Suekane.
Tanabe Pharma focuses on therapeutic areas, including immunology and inflammation, vaccines, central nervous system, diabetes and metabolic disease.
“We believe there are promising signs for growth and untapped opportunities in Japan’s life sciences industry as government and regulators have launched several initiatives to accelerate the development and approval of innovative medicines in the Japanese market,” said Ricky Sun, a Partner at Bain Capital Life Sciences.
Bain will leverage its 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, Sun said.
One of oldest pharma companies
Bain Capital has supported the growth and innovation of global pharmaceutical companies, including Aiolos Bio (now a part of GSK), Avistone Pharmaceuticals, Cardurion Pharmaceuticals, Cerevel Therapeutics (now part of AbbVie), Kailera Therapeutics, Stada, Tenacia Biotechnology, and Timberlyne Therapeutics.
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.
Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma is one of the oldest pharmaceutical companies in the world, founded in 1678. It is headquartered in Doshomachi, Osaka, the birthplace of Japan’s pharmaceutical industry.
