BELGIUM – Japanese pharma major Takeda is set to invest close to 300 million euros (US$299 million) in a new state-of-the-art production facility for the manufacturing of plasma-derived therapies for people with rare and complex chronic diseases. 

The expansion will aim to increase the manufacturing of plasma-derived therapies. Takeda also said that this is the largest investment the company had made in Belgium.

The expansion will consist of a new production facility and warehouse. As part of Takeda’s commitment to have net zero carbon emissions by 2030, the new facility will be self-sufficient in electricity.

It will also feature a water recycling system that will cut freshwater consumption by 90% by 2023. The new warehouse will itself have net zero greenhouse gas emissions.

The investment in Belgium is not the only move that Takeda has made in its plasma therapy unit.

In February, Bob Nelsen-backed Resilience established a partnership with Takeda’s plasma-derived therapies business unit to develop and manufacture several products in its portfolio out of its site in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

Takeda has also been expanding its footprint in the US. Last year, the company broke ground on a 15,000-square-foot, US$126 million manufacturing facility in Thousand Oaks, CA.

In June, Takeda also inked a 15-year lease to establish a 600,000-square-foot R&D and office HQ in Kendall Square in Cambridge, MA.

Plasma-derived therapies are treatments derived from human plasma. They are manufactured using a fractionation process where the relevant proteins in plasma are separated out.

Plasma is the single largest component of human blood and contains water, salts, enzymes, antibodies, and other proteins.

Indispensable tool for treating rare diseases

Plasma-derived therapies are used to treat a wide range of (rare) diseases, from bleeding disorders and inhibitor deficiencies, to primary and secondary immunodeficiencies.

The number of patients affected by diseases requiring treatment with plasma-derived therapies is increasing.

This trend coincides with escalating concerns over the supply of the raw material in the longer term, and a heavy reliance in Europe on plasma imports from the US.

Plasma-derived therapies rely on blood donations, which were low during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The incidence of coronavirus infection has affected millions of individuals worldwide that had temporarily impacted plasma donation globally, also affecting the plasma-derived therapy market.

Takeda’s plasma collection has recently returned to pre-pandemic levels, and the company expects a 10% to 20% increase in donation volume year over year in its fiscal year that ends in March 2023.

Elsewhere, Spanish pharmaceutical company Grifols has struck a 15-year renewable collaboration agreement with Canada’s national blood authority to increase the supply of immunoglobulins (Ig) in the country.

Under the agreement, Grifols, which uses blood plasma to make medicines, will work with Canadian Blood Services (CBS) to also source the plasma in Canada.

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