Takeda renews partnership with Structural Genomics Consortium at MaRS Toronto with new investment of $7.5 million

Japan's leading pharmaceutical company ups investment to total $12.5 million in unique open-source partnership program to speed development of innovative new therapies

OAKVILLE, ON, Dec. 4, 2015 /CNW/ - Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Takeda) today announced it has renewed its partnership with the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) to fund collective drug research aimed at bringing new, more effective medicines to patients faster. Takeda has invested an additional CAD$7.5 million, adding to its initial investment in 2012 of CAD$5 million.

SGC is a unique, open-source collaboration of more than 200 scientists from academia and industry working on pre-competitive, human biology and early-stage drug research, the results of which are available openly to the whole scientific community. The SGC is based at the University of Toronto, operating from the MaRS Discovery District in downtown Toronto, and at the Universities of Campinas (Brazil), North Carolina (Chapel Hill, USA) and Oxford (UK).

"We congratulate Takeda for expanding its investment and collaboration with the Structural Genomics Consortium and welcome them as an important contributor to the life sciences sector in Ontario," said Reza Moridi, Ontario's Minister of Research and Innovation. "It is exciting to see the SGC attracting world-class pharmaceutical industry partners such as Takeda and I look forward to seeing their drug discovery efforts benefit Ontarians and people around the world."

Takeda is the leading pharmaceutical company in Japan and among the top 15 in the world. "Takeda is pleased to expand its investment in the Structural Genomics Consortium as a testament both to the excellent work being done by all the scientists involved and the collaborative nature of this basic research," said Tetsuyuki Maruyama, General Manager & Head of the Pharmaceutical Research Division, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, Ltd. and member of the Board of Directors of the SGC.

"Takeda's partnership with the Structural Genomics Consortium is an important demonstration of Takeda's commitment to the research and development of innovative new medicines here in Canada," said Chatrick Paul, General Manager of Takeda Canada Inc., based in Oakville, Ontario. "It is with the help of work such as that done at SGC that Takeda is ultimately able to develop new medicines that will help improve the health of Canadians."

One of the areas in which SGC works is identifying new targets for drug discovery. "The impact of our open collaborative model is clearly demonstrated through renewed investments such as this one from Takeda," said Aled Edwards, Chief Executive of SGC. "Scientists within our industry partners, including Takeda, appreciate the value of being able to collaborate openly with members of the Ontario scientific and clinical ecosystems. Together we expect to make many fundamental discoveries that advance the discovery of new medicines."

About the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC)
The SGC accelerates research in new areas of human biology and drug discovery by making all its research output available to the scientific community with no strings attached, and by creating an open collaborative network of scientists in hundreds of universities around the world and in nine global pharmaceutical companies. SGC is funded by Abbvie, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Eli Lilly Canada, Genome Canada, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Merck Canada, Novartis, Ontario Ministry of Research & Innovation, Pfizer, Takeda, and the Wellcome Trust. For more information visit thesgc.org.

About Takeda
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 at takeda.com.

Takeda Canada, located in Oakville, Ontario, is the Canadian sales and marketing organization of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. Takeda Canada is transforming to become an agile specialty pharmaceutical company, focusing on gastroenterology and oncology, while continuing to meet a number of important primary care needs. Additional information about Takeda Canada is available at takedacanada.com.

SOURCE Takeda Canada Inc.

For further information: Media contact: Natacha Raphael, Corporate Communications, Takeda Canada Inc., Tel: [phone], [e-mail]