Patritumab Deruxtecan

In parallel to significant revenue growth, Daiichi Sankyo aims to save 200 billion ($1.3 billion) yen in cumulative costs over the five years by leveraging AI and optimization of its procurement processes. Daiichi Sankyo aims to transform its antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) leadership into a top global oncology standing. In a new five-year business plan unveiled Monday, the Japanese pharma outlined a roadmap to become a top five oncology player worldwide by 2035, plus a major 200 billion Japanese yen ($1.3 billion) cost optimization initiative.By 2030, Daiichi envisions (PDF) its revenues will reach more than 3 trillion yen ($19.1 billion), with 2.3 trillion yen stemming from an oncology portfolio that it hopes to bulk up with more than 20 new indications across five medicines. In fiscal year 2025, Daiichi achieved 2.1 trillion yen in total revenue—far exceeding an initial goal of 1.6 trillion set in 2021—with a 954-billion-yen ($6.1 billion) contribution from cancer drugs, driven mainly by two ADCs: AstraZeneca-partnered Enhertu and Datroway.Over 240,000 patients have received treatment from the two ADCs. By 2035, Daiichi aims for its cancer drugs to reach more than 700,0000 new eligible patients annually. Enhertu and Datroway will continue to be Daiichi’s main growth drivers in the next five years. But three more ADCs based on the company’s DXd platform are expected to reach the market during the period. These include Merck & Co.-partnered B7-H3-directed antibody-drug conjugate ifinatamab deruxtecan (I-DXd), awaiting an FDA decision in previously treated extensive-stage small cell lung cancer by Oct. 10, 2026. The other two candidates are CDH6-directed raludotatug deruxtecan (R-DXd), which is under evaluation in ovarian cancer, and HER3-directed patritumab deruxtecan (HER3 DXd), which after a withdrawal of an FDA application in EGFR-mutate non-small cell lung cancer is now being tested in a phase 3 trial for HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. Daiichi is advancing other DXd ADCs, including DS-3939 targeting tumor-associated MUC1 and DS-3790 directed at CD37, both of which the company figures hold blockbuster potential.Taken together, Daiichi expects its DXd technology alone will generate more than 3 trillion yen ($19.1 billion) in peak sales.  To drive future growth, Daiichi is developing new proprietary technologies that have the potential to match the impact of DXd, some even beyond oncology. On the ADC side, Daiichi is devising next-generation cytotoxic payloads to overcome resistance to DXd, and additional efforts to design novel tumor-selective antibodies are underway, with plans to enter human studies in fiscal 2027. Another type of payload that Daiichi is working on tries to activate the immune system via the STING pathway and achieve long-term immune memory. A phase 1 study for such a candidate, called DS3610, is ongoing. Looking beyond ADCs, Daiichi is eyeing platforms for multi-specific antibodies, target protein degraders and small interfering RNA. Those technologies are either already in clinical testing or slated to begin phase 1 study this year, according to Daiichi.Based on the current timeline, Daiichi expects to identify promising technology signals around 2030, and the resultant products are tipped to start contributing to the company’s business and its top-5 oncology ambition around 2035, Daiichi’s research head, Yuki Abe, Ph.D., said on Monday’s call. All told, Daiichi is allocating about 2.9 trillion yen ($18.5 billion) to R&D expenses over the next five years.  Cost optimizationWith expansion comes contraction. In parallel to the new five-year revenue target, Daiichi on Monday said it’s aiming to save 200 billion ($1.3 billion) yen in cumulative costs over the period by leveraging two pillars: artificial intelligence (AI) and optimization of its procurement processes.“We will expand the scope beyond routine tasks to include nonroutine operations and improve operational efficiency globally through the use of both general-purpose and specialized AI,” Daiichi CEO Hiroyuki Okuzawa said Monday during a conference call. Through a new company-wide AI initiative being launched this year, Daiichi aims to free its employees from conventional tasks so that resources can be allocated to more advanced work, the CEO explained.The growth ambition will likely require Daiichi to expand its global workforce, and AI may come into play in the company’s human capital calculations.“AI resources can be considered together with human resources to optimize the headcount as well,” Okuzawa added.Currently, the AI initiative does not involve any workforce reductions, according to a Daiichi spokesperson. “Instead, the focus is on developing and implementing a human resources strategy that reskills employees freed up from traditional tasks through operational efficiency improvements and reassigns them to roles that best match their abilities—optimizing workforce allocation across the entire organization,” the spokesperson said via an emailed statement.In fiscal 2026, Daiichi is projecting 15.8% higher selling, general and administrative expenses compared to last year, despite the efficiency drive, thanks in part to investments in human capital “for mid- to long-term growth,” as well as increased profit share with AZ, according to a presentation.Under its second cost-optimization program, Daiichi is rolling out an “enterprise resource planning” platform as a data-driven approach to managing procurement. Daiichi recently reworked its agreements with contract manufacturers after a production overbuild based on a goal to accommodate maximum patient demand for its ADCs. For fiscal year 2025, which ended in March 2026, Daiichi chalked up a 75.7-billion-yen hit to its operating profit tied to external CMO compensation and 19.3 billion yen related to the cancellation of planned investments at its Odawara site in Japan.  For fiscal year 2026, Daiichi has baked about 80 billion yen of CMO compensation fees into its forecast of 360 billion yen in core operating profit. In terms of revenue, Daiichi expects to hit 2.28 trillion yen this year.