Two Pharma Companies Expand on the Coasts, Open New Facilities
With its acquisition of Shire now under its belt, Takeda Pharmaceutical is building up its research and development presence in the United States.
Earlier this week, the company announced it has opened a new research facility in San Diego. The new 165.000 square foot site is home to more than 250 employees focused on leveraging specialized drug discovery technologies and advancing discovery research in gastroenterology and neuroscience, the company said. In its announcement, Takeda said the San Diego site is home to four research platform groups -- structural biology, early target discovery, computational biology and biologics. These groups provide the company key capabilities to discover and advance promising molecules.
The new San Diego facility complements Takeda’s global Research & Development center in Cambridge, Mass. and its other global research site in Shonan, Japan. Last year, Takeda announced plans to move its U.S. headquarters from Illinois to Boston, where it already had a strong presence following the 2008 acquisition of Millennium Pharmaceuticals and the 2017 acquisition of Ariad Pharmaceuticals.
Steve Hitchcock, head of research at Takeda, said the San Diego facility will provide an ideal balance between internal research and external collaborations.
“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 centers in Cambridge and Shonan,” Hitchcock said in a statement.
As part of that collaborative effort, over the past three years, Takeda has committed $35 million to Southern California startup companies.
Takeda isn’t the only company to open a new facility. Insulet Corporation is celebrating the grand opening of its new global headquarters and U.S. manufacturing facility in Acton, Mass. Insulet, which makes tubeless insulin pump technology, invested more than $200 million in its 26-acre site. The new facility is expected to provide additional manufacturing capabilities closer to Insulet’s large and growing U.S. customer base. The new U.S. manufacturing operation is expected to drive operating efficiencies and increase productivity. Production has already begun at the facility.
“We are honored to call Massachusetts our home and are truly grateful for the strong partnership with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and town of Acton,” Shacey Petrovic, president and chief executive officer of Insulet said in a statement. “Our new global headquarters and U.S. manufacturing facility is a launchpad for continued growth and exciting innovation and we’re proud to be contributing to the economy by creating hundreds of local jobs.”