Takeda recently announced that the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) has awarded the company top honors in the Supply Chain and Pharma 4.0™ categories for the 2022 Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA). 

In the Supply Chain category, Takeda was awarded for its implementation of a new patient-focused supply chain for its allogeneic mesenchymal stem cell therapy; and Takeda’s vaccine production facility in Singen, Germany, won in the Pharma 4.0 category.

“Our approach to manufacturing is driven by our unwavering commitment to address patient needs. These awards further reinforce this mission and showcase the innovation taking place at our state-of-the-art facilities to develop and deliver breakthrough treatments,” said Thomas Wozniewski, global manufacturing and supply officer at Takeda. 

“We’re proud to be recognized by ISPE in two FOYA categories and look forward to continuing our digital transformation.”

The Supply Chain FOYA recognizes the novel application of principles, systems and management tools aimed at improving operational speed, robustness and response. This award acknowledges Takeda’s work to completely rethink the supply chain management program for Takeda’s first allogeneic mesenchymal stem cell therapy, of which the time for final product to patient administration is just 72 hours. 

Due to the short shelf-life of allogeneic mesenchymal stem cell therapy and the need for seamless cold chain transportation, speed is essential. 

Takeda introduced a cloud-based control tower platform to connect its ecosystem (hospitals, transportation companies, plants, business units) for a “make to order” process. The platform enables hospitals to book a manufacturing slot directly via a web portal, then track the final product delivery status through end-to-end visibility and alerts at each step of the supply chain.

In the Pharma 4.0 category, ISPE recognizes facilities which showcase how innovation in advanced digital technologies leads to improved outcomes in terms of safety, product quality and productivity in a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility. 

Takeda’s vaccine facility in Singen, Germany, was built with state-of-the-art process equipment and layered with advanced digital technologies in key areas. 

In addition, Takeda has a sponsored research collaboration with the School of Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to develop the application to increase inspection accuracy and reduce low false reject rates during routine operations.