Tokyo-based Takeda Pharmaceuticals Co. this month completed a $170 million expansion and renovation project on its Thousand Oaks campus.
The centerpiece is a 15,000-square-foot expansion that will be devoted to making therapies for rare diseases. Work also included renovation of parts of the existing facility and adding solar arrays. Construction had begun four years ago.
With the new expansion now open, total employment at Takeda’s manufacturing plant now tallies about 500 people.
Just four weeks before the Takeda ribbon-cutting, Thousand Oaks-based Amgen Inc. announced it was beginning construction on a $600 million research and development center on its headquarters campus.
‘Testament to Takeda’s commitment’
Takeda plans to use its expansion for the manufacture of drugs to treat rare diseases and conditions. The first target: Hunter syndrome, an extremely rare genetic disorder that prevents the body from breaking down complex sugars. There are roughly 2,000 known cases of Hunter syndrome worldwide. Takeda has developed an enzyme replacement therapy to treat the disorder.
“The expansion of the Thousand Oaks facility is a testament to Takeda’s commitment to producing life-transforming treatments for rare diseases, such as Hunter syndrome, and supports the growing biotech industry in California,” said Stephen Hatke, site head at Takeda’s Thousand Oaks manufacturing plant. “This significant investment was essential to enhance our manufacturing capabilities and ensure continuous innovation in patient care,” he added.
Takeda Pharmaceuticals began in 1781 in Osaka, Japan, as a seller of traditional Japanese medicines. The company has since grown into a pharma giant that had more than $30 billion in revenue last year and more than 47,000 employees worldwide.
Takeda first arrived in Thousand Oaks in 1996 with a small manufacturing facility on a property owned by another pharma giant Baxter International of Deerfield, Illinois. A few years later, Baxter spun off the site; in 2019, Takeda bought the property from that spun-off entity.
According to a company spokeswoman, this original Takeda facility has specialized in making therapies to treat blood disorders.
