Asahi Kasei announced on September 29, 2026 that Veloxis Pharmaceuticals, headquartered in Cary, North Carolina, will be integrated alongside Asahi Kasei Therapeutics (Japan), Calliditas Therapeutics (Sweden), and the recently acquired AiCuris Anti-infective Cures (Germany) under a single unified global brand: Asahi Kasei Therapeutics. The move establishes one global management structure for Asahi Kasei’s pharmaceutical business and is positioned as a key step toward the company’s target of ¥300 billion in pharmaceutical net sales by FY2030.
Stacy Wheeler, CEO of Asahi Kasei Therapeutics in the United States and Europe — the executive now overseeing Veloxis’s integration — said: “These four legacy companies bring together decades of scientific innovation, specialized expertise, and a shared commitment to patients. The experience of these teams, combined with Asahi Kasei’s scientific capabilities and profit-generating foundation, provides a stronger base to grow our existing portfolio, advance pipeline assets, and pursue new opportunities across specialty therapeutic areas with significant unmet need.”
How a Cary Company Became Asahi Kasei’s U.S. Anchor
Asahi Kasei acquired Veloxis in 2020, establishing its U.S. commercial presence centered on kidney transplantation. Since then, U.S. sales of Veloxis’s flagship product, ENVARSUS XR® (tacrolimus extended-release tablets), have grown at a compound annual growth rate in the 20% range. Asahi Kasei went on to acquire Sweden’s Calliditas in 2024, expanding into broader kidney disease and further building out U.S. commercial capabilities alongside new European operations, and acquired Germany’s AiCuris in 2026, extending the pipeline into infectious diseases.
Yoshikazu Aoki, Global President of Asahi Kasei Therapeutics, framed the new unified structure as building directly on that foundation: “Bringing our pharmaceutical businesses under a single global management structure will allow us to make resource allocation decisions across the business rather than by company or geography. It also gives us a stronger platform to pursue in-licensing opportunities that can further expand our pipeline and support continued growth. Guided by a shared mission, vision, and set of values, we will work as a global team to deliver meaningful innovation and new treatment options to patients worldwide.”
What’s Driving Growth Across the Combined Portfolio
Beyond ENVARSUS XR’s steady U.S. growth, Calliditas’s TARPEYO® (budesonide delayed-release capsules) is expected to continue outperforming the revenue projections set at the time of that acquisition, while AiCuris’s portfolio adds a consistent royalty stream from Prevymis® (letermovir), plus potential future contributions from its development pipeline. The combined focus areas across the newly unified brand span immunology, nephrology, transplantation, and infectious diseases. Under its medium-term plan, Asahi Kasei intends to invest roughly ¥40 billion in in-licensing over the next three years, alongside continued investment in its existing portfolio and pipeline, as it works toward the ¥300 billion FY2030 target.
About Veloxis
Veloxis Pharmaceuticals is a fully integrated specialty pharmaceutical company headquartered at 2000 Regency Parkway in Cary, North Carolina, focused on developing and commercializing treatments for transplant patients and those with serious related diseases. Its lead product, ENVARSUS XR, is an extended-release tacrolimus formulation used to help prevent organ rejection in kidney transplant patients. Originally founded in Denmark as LifeCycle Pharma, Veloxis became part of the Asahi Kasei Group following its 2020 acquisition and now operates as the anchor of Asahi Kasei’s U.S. commercial pharmaceutical presence.
About Asahi Kasei
Asahi Kasei is a diversified global company founded in 1922, with 50,000 employees worldwide across its Healthcare, Homes, and Material business sectors.
