October 6, 2006

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited

Takeda to Open New Office Building in the United States

Osaka, Japan, October 6, 2006 --- Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited ("Takeda") announced today the opening of a new home office of its wholly owned subsidiary, Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc. (TPNA) in Deerfield, Ill. More than 800 employees from TPNA and Takeda Global Research & Development Center Inc. (TGRD) have moved from leased offices in Lincolnshire, Ill., to two new buildings built by Takeda. Employees, current and former business partners, executives from Takeda and local officials from Illinois will celebrate the grand opening on October 20.

Since Takeda was established in 1781, the company has been expanding its business globally in order to realize its Management Mission of "striving toward better health for individuals and progress in medicine by developing superior pharmaceut- ical products." The grand opening of its new U.S. home offices in the world's largest pharmaceutical market is a significant step in Takeda’s vision of becoming a world-class pharmaceutical company.

"The opening of the new Takeda home offices in the United States is one of our greatest achievements for establishing and enhancing our U.S. business," said Kunio Takeda, chairman of the board of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. "This event represents the realization of a long-cherished dream passed down from our predecessors to the current management throughout the 225-year history of Takeda."

Established in 1998, TPNA began with three employees and a single blockbuster product, Actos^® (pioglitazone HCI), an insulin sensitizer for the treatment of type 2 diabetes launched in 1999. Since that time, the company has grown with the sales expansion of Actos^® which has become the No. 1 product in its class and received significant positive results from ongoing outcome studies.

"As we move toward the future, the role that both our commercial and development companies play in the United States is even becoming bigger," said Yasuchika Hasegawa, president of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. "TPNA launched a treat- ment for insomnia, RozeremR September last year as its second product from Takeda's own research, and also a treatment for chronic idiopathic constipation, Amitiza^® April this year that was licensed from the creator and developer of the product, Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Bethesda, Maryland). I believe that the opening of the new office building can be taken as another example of how our presence in the United States is growing."

"With our significant growth we are on track to being ranked top within the top 20 U.S. pharmaceutical companies in just eight years," said Mark Booth, president of TPNA. "Our growth relies on our talented team of employees who are committed to patients and physicians and providing them innovative pharmaceutical products."

Address of the New Office:
Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc.
One Takeda Parkway
Deerfield, IL 60015
U.S.A.