Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical is looking at making vaccines a core business after completing asset sales to lower debt following its takeover of Shire, Chief Executive Christophe Weber said TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical Co is looking at making vaccines a core business after completing asset sales to lower debt following its takeover of Shire Plc, Chief Executive Christophe Weber said. Japan’s biggest drugmaker by revenue recently completed $10 billion in sales of mostly over-the-counter drug assets to reduce debt after its $59 billion purchase of Shire, saying it would focus on five key business areas. With a dengue fever vaccine in development and deals to make and distribute COVID-19 vaccines in Japan, the company could add a new pillar to its business lineup, Weber said. “We are in the vaccines business,” Weber told Reuters in an interview. “If the dengue vaccine is successful, yes, it would be a sixth one.” Takeda’s current five core businesses a...