Inauguration of Shonan Research Center

Osaka and Kanagawa, Japan, February 19, 2011 --- Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (“Takeda”) today held an inauguration ceremony of the Shonan Research Center (“New Research Center”) in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, which is located between the cities of Fujisawa and Kamakura. The New Research Center will initiate operations this month with full-scale operations set for October 2011, after the completion of the transfer of employees and research facilities from the two research centers in Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture and Tsukuba City in Ibaraki Prefecture.

The New Research Center is positioned as the core part of Takeda’s global research structure by being the central network with Takeda’s other research facilities in the U.S., Europe and Asia. The inauguration of the New Research Center represents the company’s commitment to promote imaginative and innovative research by providing an environment where diversified researchers from both inside and outside of Japan that have the highest degree of expertise and entrepreneurship, can have unrestricted discussions to realize high quality drug discovery.

“As the center of excellence of the company’s global research, the New Research Center will take the role for establishing the human resources network as well as exchanging all the research-related information of our group,” said Yasuchika Hasegawa, President & CEO of Takeda. “There in Shonan, we will aim to create the innovative medicines through realizing “open innovation” by talented researchers of our company and also those from bio-venture companies and the academia for drug discovery.”

“We are very much pleased to hold this inauguration ceremony of the New Research Center with the support and cooperation of the local community in Shonan area,” said Shigenori Ohkawa, Ph.D., a Board Of Directors member and the Chief Scientific Officer of Takeda. “The location of the New Research Center is expected to bring us more opportunities for research alliances and joint research programs with external organizations since a number of pharmaceutical related institutions are located in Kanagawa Prefecture. Together with the enhanced in-house research activities and such collaboration to utilize external resources, we believe, from the New Research Center, we will be able to bring new treatment options that are needed for the people around the world.”

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