Takeda Pharmaceutical has built on its 14-year presence in San Diego, opening a new 165,000 sqft research facility. The plant is home to more than 250 employees focused on leveraging specialised drug discovery technologies and advancing discovery research in gastroenterology and neuroscience.
The facility is home to four research platform groups – structural biology, early target discovery, computational biology and biologics – that provide key capabilities to discover and advance promising molecules.
In addition to the internal research conducted on site, the San Diego research centre plays an important role in connecting local collaborators with Takeda’s global network. This new centre complements the company’s global R&D centre in Cambridge, Massachusetts and another global research site in Shonan, Japan.
Steve Hitchcock, Head of Research at Takeda, said: “Our San Diego research centre demonstrates an ideal balance between highly specialised internal research competencies and dedication to external partnerships both within the local community and on a global scale.”
Hitchcock added: “By consulting with and leveraging our relationships with academic and industry partners and patient groups, we are able to operate nimbly and efficiently to advance early discovery research that could potentially translate into transformative, life-changing therapies for patients in need, complementing our efforts in our other global research centres in Cambridge and Shonan.”
Takeda’s R&D efforts are in four therapeutic areas – Oncology, Gastroenterology (GI), Neuroscience and Rare Diseases – with targeted investments also committed to Plasma-Derived Therapies (PDT) and Vaccines.
In the last three years, Takeda, through its venture group, has committed US$35 million to Southern California startup companies, underscoring its commitment to the active life sciences cluster in the San Diego and broader California area.