Takeda Launches Multi-Year Research Partnership with Leading Inflammatory Bowel Disease Institutions

March 31, 2016 – Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. (“Takeda”), today announced a multi-year research partnership with two world leading academic centers with a proven long-term commitment to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) research and care. The partnership, with the University of Chicago and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, will help to further patient care through the increased study of IBD. Takeda aims to pave the way for translating science into pioneering treatment paradigms and patient-centered support, with initiatives directed at digital innovation and IBD and immunology and IBD.

“Creating strong partnerships with the potential to discover game changing technologies and health solutions is a key priority for our company,” said Charlie Baum, M.D., Vice President and Head, U.S. Medical and Scientific Affairs, Takeda. “This research assures continued scientific focus and exploration to help people affected by IBD, a chronic, challenging to treat disease that impacts as many as 1.6 million Americans and 5 million people globally.”

During the three-year partnership, the University of Chicago will work to establish a unique patient physician digital platform that communicates real-time disease status, collates environmental, molecular, genetic and microbiome factors for each patient and creates a system for identifying personalized IBD therapy. “We are very grateful for Takeda’s vision and support in accelerating novel research of and care for people suffering from IBD,” said David T. Rubin, M.D., the Joseph B. Kirsner Professor of Medicine and Chief, Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at the University of Chicago Medicine.

Mount Sinai will focus on immunology in IBD including discovering novel paradigms of lymphocytic homing to the colon, identifying the effect of the microbiome on homing to the colon and exploring therapeutic cell based approaches to suppress intestinal inflammation. The collaboration was facilitated through Mount Sinai Innovation Partners, an internal business unit of the Mount Sinai Health System that facilitates the real-world application and commercialization of Mount Sinai discoveries and the development of research partnerships. “A partnership between Takeda and Mount Sinai could lead to identifying novel homing markers to the large bowel and define innovative therapeutic targets in patients with IBD,” said Jean-Frédéric Colombel, M.D., Director of the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

The collaborative partnership between the University of Chicago, Mount Sinai and Takeda will advance our understanding of novel therapies and treatment paradigms through information sharing, addressing research and data gaps, and collaborating on clinical and health outcome studies, as well as sharing of resources including laboratory techniques, reagents and cell lines.

Takeda is committed to investment and innovation in the field of gastroenterology. “Takeda is dedicated to being a catalyst for scientific discovery that can profoundly advance patient care,” said Ramona Sequeira, President, Takeda PharmaceuticalsU.S.A., Inc. “We are enthusiastic to partner with these tremendous academic centers. We anticipate that these collaborative initiatives will yield meaningful, ground-breaking research with the potential to improve patient outcomes in IBD.”

Enhanced access to important treatment options is a significant need for people with chronic disease, including IBD. Takeda recently acquired a U.S.-based biologics manufacturing facility which will focus on producing a treatment for ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD), the two most common forms of IBD. The acquisition of the facility will allow Takeda to further support U.S. patients with UC and CD.

About Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE: 4502) is a global, R&D-driven pharmaceutical company committed to bringing better health and a brighter future to patients by translating science into life-changing medicines. Takeda focuses its research efforts on oncology, gastroenterology and central nervous system therapeutic areas. It also has specific development programs in specialty cardiovascular diseases as well as late-stage candidates for vaccines. Takeda conducts R&D both internally and with partners to stay at the leading edge of innovation. New innovative products, especially in oncology and gastroenterology, as well as its presence in emerging markets, fuel the growth of Takeda. More than 30,000 Takeda employees are committed to improving quality of life for patients, working with our partners in health care in more than 70 countries. For more information, visit https://www.takeda.com/news

Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. is located in Deerfield, Ill., and is the U.S. marketing and sales organization of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited.

Additional information about Takeda is available through its corporate website, www.takeda.com, and additional information about Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. is available through its website, www.takeda.us.

SOURCE Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.