Takeda Offers R&D Incentives To Employees

Employees of Japanese companies generally receive bonuses as part oftheir pay package, which in good times are usually equivalent to six months basic pay, paid twice a year. Under a new incentive program that starts in April of this year, researchers at Takeda Chemical Industries who develop profitable drugs will also be awarded a special bonus in addition to their regular bonuses, according to news reports in Tokyo.

The incentive bonus will be capped at 50 million yen ($418,600) and is Takeda's response to increasing competition among drugmakers in Japan, where drug prices are cut periodically, and new, innovative drugs are awarded higher prices under the Japanese health care system.

The special bonus will be keyed to the market value of newly-developed drugs that exceed 10 billion yen in annual sales and have been on the market for three years. Payments will be made in installments over a five-year period and, theoretically, could total 50 million yen in the case of a drug that tops 80 billion yen in annual sales.