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DEERFIELD, Ill. & OSAKA, Japan

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (“Takeda”) 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 programs 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 U.S., 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 U.S. 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 programs 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 programs and set the stage for global commercialization of these vaccines.”

About Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited

Located in Osaka, Japan, Takeda is a research-based global company with its main focus on pharmaceuticals. As the largest pharmaceutical company in Japan and one of the global leaders of the industry, Takeda is committed to strive towards better health for people worldwide through leading innovation in medicine. Additional information about Takeda is available through its corporate website, www.takeda.com.

About Takeda’s Vaccine Business Unit

Takeda has supplied vaccines to protect the health of people in Japan for more than 60 years. Currently headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, Takeda’s global Vaccine Business was launched in January 2012. Today, development efforts are focused on tackling some of the world’s most challenging health problems for which vaccines do not exist, such as dengue and norovirus.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150602006424/en/