- Expansion helps create 100 new jobs on site
- Strengthens Takeda’s production capacity for one of its core therapeutic areas – Rare Diseases
- Manufacturing site in Lessines is one of the largest biotechnology facilities in Belgium
LESSINES, Belgium, August 31, 2021 – Takeda Belgium, a subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd, inaugurates a new state-of-the-art production facility at its Lessines site for the manufacturing of treatments for people with rare and complex chronic diseases. The ceremony is being attended by Mr. Elio Di Rupo, Minister-President of Wallonia, Mr. Thomas Dermine, Secretary of State for Economic Recovery and Strategic Investments, entrusted with Scientific Policy, deputy to the Minister for Economy and Labour, and H.E. Makita Shimokawa, Ambassador of Japan to the Kingdom of Belgium and to NATO. The investment is part of Takeda’s global efforts to implement the most innovative technologies and most sustainable processes to manufacture treatments for rare diseases such as alpha-1 anti-trypsin deficiency. The new facility also underlines the strategic importance of Lessines, with more than 1,200 employees it is the third largest manufacturing site in the Takeda network.
Dr. Thomas Wozniewski, Global Manufacturing Supply Officer for Takeda, explains:
“The new production line represents a EUR 118 million investment that will create over 100 new jobs. It is a state-of-the-art facility, utilizing the latest digital technologies. To ensure optimal traceability and enable continuous process quality monitoring, the protein manufacturing process is steered by an electronic data management and control system. For investments like this, we also consider the impact on the environment and aim to choose solutions with the lowest footprint. Lessines is the first Takeda site that will reuse 90 percent of its wastewater by 2023.”
Takeda’s manufacturing activities in Belgium are focused on the production of treatments for patients with rare and complex chronic diseases, specifically the purification, filling and packaging of plasma-derived therapies. The new production facility is going to purify Alpha-1 Antitrypsin.
In July the site received approval from the FDA for the production of the protein which marked another important milestone to better serve patients.
Julie Kim, President Plasma-Derived Therapies at Takeda, explains:
“Our focus is on improving the lives of individuals who live with disorders that can be treated with plasma-derived therapies – and Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) is one of them. AATD is a genetic disease that can be passed from parents to children and primarily affects the lungs and the liver. The more severe the condition, the more difficult it becomes to breathe. The therapy we will make at Lessines will treat AATD, providing patients with lifelong complex, chronic conditions an important treatment option.”
“It is thanks to a fruitful collaboration between the academic world, public authorities and businesses that Belgium plays a strategic role in pharmaceutical research and development, and in the production and distribution of new therapies,” says Mr. Geoffrey Pot, General Manager Operations, Takeda Lessines site and President of Bio.be. “In addition to the investment in our production capacity, we also invest in the development of our staff in the scientific and digital field. And we will continue working on our science-based climate targets too, as we aim to become a carbon zero operation at the Lessines site by 2030.”
About Takeda
Pharmaceutical Company Limited Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE: 4502/NYSE: TAK) is a global, values-based, R&D-driven biopharmaceutical leader headquartered in Japan, committed to discover and deliver life-transforming treatments, guided by our commitment to patients, our people and the planet. Takeda focuses its R&D efforts on four therapeutic areas: Oncology, Rare Genetics and Hematology, Neuroscience, and Gastroenterology (GI). We also make targeted R&D investments in Plasma-Derived Therapies and Vaccines. We are focusing on developing highly innovative medicines that contribute to making a difference in people’s lives by advancing the frontier of new treatment options and leveraging our enhanced collaborative R&D engine and capabilities to create a robust, modality-diverse pipeline. Our employees are committed to improving quality of life for patients and to working with our partners in health care in approximately 80 countries and regions. For more information, visit https://www.takeda.com.
About the global production site at Lessines
With 1,200 employees, the Lessines manufacturing site’s mission is to serve patients with rare diseases and other specialized conditions. It is a Centre of Excellence for the purification of immunoglobulins, with filling and packaging capacity for plasma-derived therapies and packaging capacity for hematology products that reach patients in more than 80 countries.
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For further information
Françoise Delaunoit
Takeda Lessines spokesperson
+32 474 55 52 34
