Kaken Pharmaceutical Cuts Fiscal 2026 Profit Forecast on Milestone Payment Deferral
Kaken Pharmaceutical (TYO:4521) has lowered its consolidated earnings forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31 to 2.1 billion yen from 2.3 billion yen previously.The pharmaceutical group now expects fiscal 2026 basic earnings per share to be 55.39 yen compared with 60.74 yen initially, and net sales to be lower at 76.9 billion yen versus 86.3 billion yen, according to a Tokyo bourse filing on Wednesday.The downward revision was primarily driven by the deferral of a $70 million milestone payment from Johnson & Johnson, which was initially expected in fiscal 2026 but will now be recognized in the following year.Further, the company factored in a reduction in research and development expenses aimed at improving investment efficiency, as well as the partial disposal of cross-shareholdings in line with its reduction policy announced in May 2024.Kaken Pharmaceutical said these revisions reflect differences from the previous forecast announced on Sept. 26, 2025, and cautioned that actual results may vary due to forward-looking uncertainties.
