Milestone: Takeda's Topping-Off Ceremony for the Laboratory of the Future in Vienna

>Together with high-ranking representatives from politics, business, and science, Takeda celebrated completing the roof structure of the Total Quality Building (TQB) for research and development in Seestadt Aspern, Vienna.

_{From left to right: Johannes Tiefengraber, Business Unit Manager of the construction company „Lieb Bau Weiz“; Manfred Rieger, Site Head and Managing Director of the Research and Development Division of Takeda in Austria; Ernst Nevrivy, District Mayor Donaustadt; Claudia Kaufmann, Takeda Project Manager for building the Lab of the Future; Stefan Gara, Member of the Vienna State Parliament and Health Spokesperson representing Deputy Mayor Christoph Wiederkehr; Andy Plump, President of Research & Development at Takeda; Mizuuchi Ryuta, Ambassador of Japan to Austria; Erich Schramek, CEO of UniCredit Leasing Austria}

_{Copyright: Takeda, Photographer: Gregor Schweinester}

Vienna, November 21, 2024 – The biopharmaceutical company Takeda celebrated the completion of the roof structure with a symbolic topping-off ceremony in Vienna's Seestadt Aspern on November 21, 2024. This new location will enable up to 250 scientists to work on addressing unmet health challenges for patients. The environmentally friendly building is being constructed according to the highest ecological standards.

Modern Building Concept in Seestadt

Andy Plump, President of Research & Development at Takeda, participated in the ceremonial topping-off event and stressed the importance of the Viennese "Lab of the Future”: “Our ‘Lab of the Future’ highlights the pivotal contributions of our Austrian teams to translating science into highly innovative, life-transforming medicines. Their dedication and expertise were key to the decision to further invest in Vienna, emphasizing the importance of local innovation and collaboration. This project fortifies Austria’s role as a key center for Takeda R&D, advancing our commitment to addressing high unmet medical needs across our core therapeutic areas.”

Dr. Manfred Rieger, site head and managing director of Takeda's R&D division in Austria, reports: "The topping-off ceremony is an important milestone for us. A year ago in the fall, the groundbreaking took place, and now we can already imagine how the building will feel after its completion. I thank the project team, and everyone involved for their commitment and effective project management. In line with our corporate values and global strategy, we are actively committed to sustainability in our R&D organization in Austria. Thanks to our innovative laboratory practices and the development of a particularly sustainable building, we are pioneers in environmental responsibility in R&D. We are proud to contribute not only to scientific progress but also to the well-being of our planet through these measures."

The new location in Vienna’s Donaustadt district will be an environmentally friendly and wheelchair accessible building, known as a Total Quality Building (TQB). This certification is the seal of approval from the Austrian Society for Sustainable Building (ÖGNB), which evaluates different uses of buildings and comprehensively evaluates them based on several sustainability criteria. There are five above-ground floors and three underground floors on a total construction area of 28,000 m². Seven elevators are planned to facilitate the transition from one part of the building to another. The building will provide laboratory, office, and conference room spaces as well as a flexible and modularly designed laboratory area. The ballroom concept allows for a flexible laboratory structure, whereby walls can be moved, and rooms can be adapted to existing project requirements. A demo lab for universities and start-ups is also planned to promote collaborations in the new building. Reflecting Takeda's Japanese heritage, the building’s many green spaces will resemble Japanese gardens and ensure a pleasant and peaceful working environment.

Success Story Healthcare Metropolis Vienna

Conveying his best wishes on reaching the construction milestone is Peter Hanke, the Executive City Councillor for Finance, Economy, Labour, International Affairs and Wiener Stadtwerke, who emphasizes the importance of the project. “Vienna has long been one of the most important and largest life science locations in Europe and Takeda’s ‘Lab of the Future’ is an excellent example of this development. In addition to the invaluable contribution made to the health of patients worldwide, new jobs are also being created here, which is particularly gratifying for me as the City Councillor for Economic Affairs,” highlighted Hanke.

The Japanese Ambassador to Austria, Mizuuchi Ryuta, explains: "I can already envision the day when the “Laboratory of the Future” will bring worldwide recognition to Seestadt Aspern as a successful life sciences hub. Thus, the establishment of this building will then become a symbol of further Japanese-Austrian collaboration in industry and science. The beneficiaries of these groundbreaking innovations and cooperation will be people all over the world, who will gain better health through the sustainable operation of this future lab."

Takeda Invests in Sustainability

The new "Lab of the Future" stands for environmentally friendly and sustainable R&D practices. The fact that the new building will be CO2 emission-free contributes to achieving Takeda's sustainability goals. Alternative energy sources, such as 100 percent hydropower, renewable energies, photovoltaics, and geothermal energy, will be used here and contribute significantly to energy savings. Overall, more than 400 tons of CO2 are to be saved yearly. The building will receive a Total Quality Building (TQB) certification and parts of the laboratory will be certified as “green” by "My Green Lab," the worldwide standard for best practices in laboratory sustainability. Takeda's Analytical Development team in Vienna already achieved the highest level of "My Green Lab" certification in 2023 for sustainable laboratory practices, demonstrating Takeda's commitment to the environment. Takeda aims for all of its R&D labs in Seestadt to be certified as "green."

“This new science building is the largest investment of our long-standing customer Takeda in a research and development project in Austria and I am proud that we, as a financial partner, could contribute to it. I am particularly pleased that this is an environmentally friendly building because sustainability is an essential part of our strategy," says Erich Schramek, CEO of UniCredit Leasing Austria, which financed this project.

A Milestone for the Future

The environmentally friendly building in Seestadt offers space for up to 250 researchers. For the first time, R&D activities from five locations in the city will be brought under one roof. The consolidation of the locations will massively improve connectivity, collaboration, efficiency, and effectiveness. All of this will help ensure that Takeda's medicines reach patients worldwide as quickly as possible.

From the early planning phase, a project team of Takeda employees from different departments has been involved to contribute insights and expertise from the user perspective. This team still meets regularly to provide input on the construction project and the design of the premises. Local scientists from all R&D functions are involved and participate in project meetings and planning discussions or contribute relevant data.

The "Lab of the Future" reflects changes in work environments and focuses on increasing efficiency and improving collaboration. Manfred Rieger adds: "The new building enables us to work in an integrated, collaborative, and innovative way. We are already bringing people together to develop the philosophy of knowledge sharing and open collaboration, which will lead us to greater efficiency and effectiveness." Thus, collaborations and partnerships with scientific institutions are to be promoted to achieve improvements in R&D, specifically in the therapeutic areas of neurology, gastroenterology, oncology, and rare and complex diseases.

The Takeda R&D organization in Vienna supports the most innovative research approaches and develops them to market. The special focus of activities is on biotechnologically produced drugs, so-called biologics. In addition, there is a major focus on digitizing the research and development work supported by innovative technologies such as robotics, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and the simulation of processes using digital twins. Also, to advance these fields in science, the new building in Vienna’s Seestadt Aspern region will set international standards.

About Takeda internationally

Takeda is a globally leading, values-oriented, research-driven biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Japan. Takeda aims to develop and produce life-improving and life-saving medicines for the treatment of rare and complex diseases. The focus is on providing care for patients who have few or no treatment options available. At Takeda, the commitment to patients, employees, and the environment is always at the forefront. https://www.takeda.com

About Takeda in Austria

In Austria, every process step for innovative medicines takes place at Takeda: from research & development, through plasma collection and production, to patient care. Around 4,500 employees help to ensure that medicines from Austria reach over 100 countries worldwide and that patients in Austria have access to Takeda's innovative medicines. The Austrian product portfolio helps patients in the fields of oncology, rare metabolic diseases, gastroenterology and immunology, among others. Takeda has also been recognized as a certified Top Employer for its outstanding employee experience and commitment to inclusion and is a pioneer in sustainable and responsible drug production. https://www.takeda.at

Press photos for download at:

http://www.publichealth.at/portfolio-items/Gleichenfeier-2024/

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Takeda

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