Takeda Korea marks 10th anniversary with plans for next decade

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Takeda Korea plans to realize patient-centered and innovative treatment for the next decade, the company's top manager said.

Takeda Korea General Manager Moon Hee-seok explains his company's goals through an online presentation celebrating the company's 10th anniversary on Thursday.

"Since 2014, Takeda has been pursuing to become a global leader in the specialty field, focusing on four key areas – cancer and rare diseases, rare diseases, blood diseases, nervous system, and gastric diseases," Takeda Korea General Manager Moon Hee-seok said during a news conference Thursday.

This year marks the 240th anniversary of the founding of the Takeda headquarters and the 10th anniversary of Takeda Korea, an inflection point for taking a further leap forward, Moon said. To achieve the vision of developing life-changing therapeutics based on dedication to patients, Moon said Takeda plans to secure 40 new substances and obtain approvals for 12 new substances by 2030, he added.

"In line with the global vision, Takeda Korea also expects to obtain approval for 16 products, including the expansion of indications for existing products, during this time frame," he said. "In the future, we will do our best to help patients in a field at which we are good.”

Moon stressed that while sales are also important, the company will focus on establishing a robust portfolio.

"We have pursued stable growth based on primary care in the past. From now on, we will seek innovation focusing on specialty care, thereby extending survival and contributing to the lives of patients on a more fundamental level," he said. "The company is also trying to create an atmosphere where creative work can be done in an innovative and free environment."

Takeda Korea aims to become a creative company leader in specialty care in the next decade, he added.

During the press conference, Takeda Korea’s division heads introduced the company’s direction in line with its headquarters global strategy.

Kim Jeong-heon, head of Takeda Korea's oncology business division, presented the "3P (patient, people, and product) strategy," promising that Takeda Korea executives and staff would put patients at the center to change their lives based on excellent treatments.

"The oncology division is creating various outcomes by putting patients first," Kim said. "In the future, Takeda plans to expand its scope to solid cancer and blood cancer by developing and introducing immunotherapy."

Kim also unveiled the company's plans to develop an immunotherapy that induces an anti-cancer immune response by changing the tumor microenvironment, such as changing a cold tumor into a hot tumor.

Kim Tae-hoon, head of the gastrointestinal business division, emphasized the company’s responsibility in treating inflammatory bowel disease.

"Unlike other companies' inflammatory bowel disease drugs that have indications for other diseases, Takeda's treatments, such as Kintelles and Mezavant, only treat inflammatory bowel disease and are more effective and stable," he said. "Just as Kintelles and Mezavant specialized in inflammatory bowel disease, the inflammatory bowel disease division of Takeda Korea will take responsibility as a leader in related diseases and dedicate itself to the medical staff and patients in the field."

Ji Chang-deok, head of the genetic disease division, said that Takeda has established itself as a leader in the field of rare diseases such as axial lysosomal disease for the past 30 years and said that the company had become a true companion for patients with rare diseases.

"Furthermore, as a pioneer in the development of next-generation therapeutics, the company will continue to introduce therapeutics to new therapeutic areas in the future," Ji added.

Kim Na-kyung, head of the hemophilia business division, introduced the history of Takeda's hemophilia field, which started in Baxter, and emphasized that the hemophilia treatment environment in Korea has improved significantly over the past 20 years, and Takeda l Korea has contributed greatly to such an improvement.

"Although competition in the field of hemophilia is getting fiercer, we will continue to move forward by putting patients as our top priority," Kim said. "Notably, the company plans to broaden its horizons to new rare blood diseases that other companies have not been able to access not such as protein C deficiency and PCC deficiency, and maintain my position as a leader in the disease field."