From East to West: a Japanese Pharma perspective on establishing a global research capability.

Takeda (http://www.takeda.com) is one of the oldest Pharmaceutical companies in the world and has been the largest Japanese Pharmaceutical company for over a decade. Although many of its operations such as development and marketing have been conducted on a global basis for a number of years, research has historically been focused on in-house activities inside Japan, which have a successful track record in generating pioneer blockbuster drugs. To meet the ever-increasing challenge of maintaining a robust pipeline and a continuous stream of INDs, Takeda has embarked on a program to globalize its internal drug discovery capability through the integration of world-class research entities. We outline the strategies, opportunities and challenges of building a global research network from the perspective of a Japanese Pharmaceutical company.