Takeda Pharmaceutical¡¯s newly appointed Chief Executive Officer Julie Kim says the company will return to growth in two to three years as it gears up for a wave of product launches.

The company is targeting a return on equity of at least 5% over that time, Kim said at her first news conference after assuming the top job this week.

Takeda is planning three major launches, including narcolepsy drug Oveporexton and psoriasis medication Zasocitinib in the next 12 months, while advancing a pipeline of five additional late-stage assets. It will ensure resiliency of its core therapeutic and business areas, which makes up more than half of its revenue.

The company is also looking to leverage artificial intelligence, particularly in research and development, where it can accelerate the time it takes to run through pre-clinical work and improve decision making, according to Kim. The technology has helped speed up drug target identification, cutting the process to two weeks from around six months.

¡°From a financial standpoint, if we accomplish all of these business objectives, we will be able to return to growth, albeit not a high level of growth,¡± she said.

Kim is the first female leader for the 245-year-old Japanese pharmaceutical company, and a rare foreigner in the top echelons of corporate leadership in the country. Born in Seoul and raised in the U.S., she joined the company seven years ago following Takeda¡¯s acquisition of Shire and has since led its plasma-derived therapies business unit and then ran its U.S. operations.

She succeeds Christophe Weber, who was Takeda¡¯s first non-Japanese leader and served as CEO for more than a decade. Kim said she plans a similarly lengthy tenure.

¡°Assuming that I continue to perform well in my role and the shareholders vote for me every year, the board asked for a commitment of at least 10 years,¡± she said.

Kim brings a distinct U.S.-centric perspective to Takeda, with the region the company¡¯s biggest revenue earner.

¡°Her priority appears to be maximizing the value of the company¡¯s U.S. business, marking a significant shift from Christophe¡¯s more balanced approach, which placed relatively equal emphasis on Europe, emerging markets, and Japan,¡± said Miki Sogi, senior analyst at Sanford C Bernstein Japan.