Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Takeda), a research-based global company, announced that the company will consolidate its vaccine business unit (VBU) operations by establishing global and regional hubs as the organization continues to grow and advance its important vaccine programmes in norovirus, dengue and seasonal influenza.

The Boston/Cambridge, Massachusetts area, and Zurich, Switzerland will serve as VBU’s global hubs for the vaccine business outside of Japan. VBU will maintain regional hubs in Singapore and in Brazil and will operate manufacturing sites in Hikari, Japan; Durham, North Carolina and Singen, Germany.

In the US, all vaccine activities with the exception of manufacturing will move to the new global hub in the Boston/Cambridge area. This co-location will significantly enhance communication and collaboration across VBU’s divisions, and will allow VBU to leverage Takeda’s significant R&D presence in Cambridge. It will also provide access to the area’s remarkable biotech/pharmaceutical ecosystem and talent base.

Takeda will close its vaccine site in Bozeman, Montana, which it obtained through the acquisition of LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals in 2012, as well as the Madison, Wisconsin and Fort Collins, Colorado sites, which came to Takeda through the acquisition of Inviragen, Inc. in 2013.  In addition, vaccine activities in Deerfield, Illinois, which currently serves as the global headquarters for VBU, will shift to the Boston/Cambridge area. This transition will occur in phases over the next two years, with the completion of US consolidation by mid-2017.

“Takeda remains fully committed to the development of innovative vaccines that improve the lives of people around the world, including our norovirus, dengue and seasonal influenza candidate vaccines,” said Rajeev Venkayya, M.D., president, Takeda’s vaccine business unit. “Our sites in Bozeman, Fort Collins, Madison and Deerfield have been instrumental in bringing our dengue and norovirus programmes to late stages of clinical development. This consolidation will help us to achieve the efficiency and operational excellence needed to execute the phase 3 clinical programmes and set the stage for global commercialization of these vaccines.”