Takeda Initiates Development of a Plasma-Derived Therapy for COVID-19.

• Anti-SARS-CoV-2 polyclonal hyperimmune globulin (H-IG) being developed to treat infected, high-risk individuals with COVID-19
• Exploring the potential to repurpose marketed products and molecules to potentially treat COVID-19

Osaka, Japan : Takeda Initiates Development of a Plasma-Derived Therapy for COVID-19. Takeda Pharmaceutical Company has initiated  the development of an anti-SARS-CoV-2 polyclonal hyperimmune globulin (H-IG) to treat high-risk individuals with COVID-19, while also studying whether Takeda’s currently marketed and pipeline products may be effective treatments for infected patients. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19.

Hyperimmune globulins are plasma derived-therapies that have previously been shown to be effective in the treatment of severe acute viral respiratory infections and may be a treatment option for COVID-19. As a leader in plasma-derived therapies with more than 75 years of experience in the development of plasma-derived products, Takeda has the expertise to research, develop, and manufacture a potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 polyclonal H-IG, which Takeda is referring to as TAK-888.

“As a company dedicated to the health and well-being of people around the world, we will do all that we can to address the novelcoronavirus threat,” said Dr. Rajeev Venkayya, President of Takeda’s Vaccine Business Unit and co-lead of the company’s COVID-19 response team. “We have identified relevant assets and capabilities across the company and are hopeful that we can expand the treatment options for patients with COVID-19 and the providers caring for them.”

Takeda is currently in discussions with multiple national health and regulatory agencies and health care partners in the US, Asia, and Europe to expeditiously move the research into TAK-888 forward. This requires access to source plasma from people who have successfully recovered from COVID-19 or who have been vaccinated, once a vaccine is developed. These convalescent donors have developed antibodies to the virus that could potentially mitigate severity of illness in COVID-19 patients and possibly prevent it.

H-IG works by concentrating the pathogen-specific antibodies from plasma collected from recovered patients or vaccinated donors in the future. By transferring the antibodies to a new patient, it may help that person’s immune system respond to the infection and increase their chance of recovery.Because the plasma needed for TAK-888 is unlikely to come from current plasma donors, Takeda will initially produce the therapy in a segregated area within its manufacturing facility in Georgia, and development and production of it should not negatively impact Takeda’s ability to produce its other plasma-derived therapies.

“Plasma-derived therapies are critical, life-saving medicines that thousands of people with rare and complex diseases rely on every day around the world,” said Dr. Chris Morabito, Takeda’s Head of Research and Development, Plasma-Derived Therapies Business Unit.  “Our heritage, combined with our scale, expertise and capabilities, uniquely position Takeda to realize the potential of plasma-derived therapies, such as TAK-888.”

In addition, Takeda is exploring whether select marketed therapies and molecules in its drug library could be viable candidates for the effective treatment of COVID-19.These efforts are at an early stage but being given a high priority within the company.

An internal working group of in-house experts in public health, vaccines, plasma-derived therapies, and R&D will continue to seek opportunities to leverage our expertise and extensive network of global partners to address COVID-19.  COVID-19 is the disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), which can cause pneumonia and has resulted in more than 3,000 deaths globally since its recent discovery. To date, there are no approved vaccines or therapies to prevent or treat COVID-19.

For more information, visit https://www.takeda.com.

The post Takeda Initiates Development of a Plasma-Derived Therapy for COVID-19 appeared first on Health Vision.

Delhi : Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited  (“Takeda”), has announced the appointment of Dr.Mahender Nayak as Area Head for the Company’s ICMEA (India, C.I.S., Middle East, Turkey, and Africa) Area. In his current capacity, Dr. Nayak will lead the company’s operations from Dubai, United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), where he will be based.

Dr. Nayak has more than 20 years of performance-driven leadership experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, having worked inmultinational and regional companies. Beforethis role, he oversaw Portfolio Management for Takeda’s Growth and Emerging Markets Business Unit based in Singapore (2018 to 2020). Prior to that, Dr. Nayak was the General Manager of Takeda’s operations in Korea.

Commenting on his new role, Dr. Nayak said, “This is an exciting time to move to a part of the worldthat is teeming with great opportunities to increase patient access to Takeda’s highly innovative medicines. We aim to do this through our commercial activities and commitments around our approaches to Access to Medicines across rare diseases, oncology, neuroscience,and gastroenterology.”

Across ICMEA, Takeda collaborates with governments and regulators, to ensure that its diverse portfolio of innovative medicines is made available to patients as quickly and safely as possible.“These countries are open to innovation and partnering with world-leading R&D-led organizations like Takeda. Our diverse talent across the company’s presence in over 82 geographies bring many different experiences, backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives that help drive health innovation and ultimately benefit patients.This can only be done by nurturing and developing the best talents and ultimately becoming an employer of choice”, added Dr. Nayak.

Dr. Nayak started his career as a physician in Bangalore, India and has an MBA in Marketing.  He joined Takeda in 2011 and, since then, grew within the company to hold various senior international and regional roles.

The post Takeda appoints new Area Head for India, C.I.S., Middle East, Turkey & Africa appeared first on Health Vision.