Thomas Willemsen

Takeda, Area Senior Vice President Asia Pacific (APAC)

Thomas Willemsen joined Takeda as Area Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific in May 2019, also serving as a member of the Growth & Emerging Markets Leadership Team, based in Singapore.

He brings over 20 years of extensive international management and leadership experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Takeda, Thomas held the position of Vice President, Oncology at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for its Intercontinental & Emerging Markets business, where he was assigned to develop the business’ strategy for Asia & Emerging Markets, including Access Strategy and Commercial structure design.

Prior to that, Thomas served as General Manager and Commercial Head for GSK in China, and as General Manager of GSK Taiwan. He also spent 12 years with Merck KGaA in various commercial and regional roles in the Asia Pacific region, and as the Head of its German Oncology business unit.

Thomas speaks German, English and Mandarin. He graduated with an MBA from Trier University, Germany, and attained a Chinese Language Degree from Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.

Articles by Thomas Willemsen

Trust in the time of COVID-19: Why a Culture of Trust is crucial to persevere through and emerge from crisis at Takeda Asia Pacific

Takeda's Area SVP for Asia Pacific explains how trust, virtual town halls, and 'Recharge Days' carried teams through the pandemic. See roles at Takeda.