Takeda Achieves Industry-Leading Positions in 2021 Access to Medicine Index

- Company Ranked Sixth Overall and Leads the Pharmaceutical Industry in Governance of Access

- Secured Industry-Leading Positions in All Three Technical Areas Evaluated

- Shows Strong Performance in Health System Strengthening and Compliance

OSAKA, Japan and CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, January 26, 2021 – Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE:4502/NYSE:TAK) (“Takeda”) has earned an industry-leading position within the 2021 Access to Medicine (AtM) Index published today. Specifically the company achieved notable, high scores in all three technical areas evaluated by the Index, including being ranked first in Governance of Access. Takeda also demonstrated strong performance in the areas of health system strengthening, compliance and R&D capacity building, according to the Index.

“This honor underscores Takeda’s commitment to prioritizing patient needs by ensuring access to our life-transforming treatments,” said Christophe Weber, Takeda president and chief executive officer. “As a purpose-driven company that puts the patient at the center of everything we do, we are committed to not just inventing medicines but making sure patients can access transformative therapies.”

The AtM Index is a rigorous, biennial research project combining data-collection, verification, scoring and analysis that compares 20 of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies on their efforts to address access to medicines. Takeda was ranked sixth overall, and achieved ‘top 10’ positions within the three technical areas evaluated: Governance of Access, Research & Development and Product Delivery. This included top ranking in Governance of Access.

“Takeda is humbled by our recognition within the latest Access to Medicine Index”, added Ricardo Marek, president of the Growth & Emerging Markets Business Unit of Takeda. “Our ranking further illustrates how Takeda’s values are being lived across the company, and how our ‘Access First’ approach across Takeda’s Growth & Emerging Markets Region is helping patients overcome access challenges in a more sustainable manner.”

Other notable highlights from Takeda’s achievements in the 2021 Index include:

• Recognition for its focus on ‘end-to-end’ patient access to treatment. In fact, Takeda was cited for its focus on affordable access to medicines throughout the drug development process – from early-stage clinical development through product launch and commercialization. Takeda also led the Index’s 20 companies in the category of assessing access strategies for medicines that must be administered by healthcare practitioners (HCP).
• The company led the industry for R&D capacity building.
• Takeda earned an industry-leading position in the area of health system strengthening. Takeda’s Blueprint for Innovative Healthcare Access, a local community care program in Kenya and Rwanda focused on non-communicable diseases (NCDs), was recognized as a scalable and inclusive business model aimed to meet the access needs of a population at the very base of the economic pyramid.

Susanne Weissbaecker, Global Head of Access to Medicines, Takeda, commented: “Takeda’s continued leadership position in the 2021 Index is a testament to the impactful initiatives that we have put in place to help patients access our innovative and potentially life-saving medicines, while helping strengthen health systems in partnership with local governments, NGOs, and industry partners. Takeda has and hope to continue to play our part in helping patients overcome access challenges worldwide - despite the global pandemic.”

About Takeda’s Access to Medicines Initiatives
Focusing on countries with less developed or evolving healthcare systems, Takeda’s Access to Medicines strategy forms part of the company’s commitments to enhance people’s health worldwide. It is designed to help strengthen healthcare systems, and to tackle barriers that limit patient access to medicines. This includes partnering to implement affordability-based Patient Assistance Programs (PAPs) for Takeda’s innovative treatment portfolio - notably in the fields of rare and complex diseases - along with efforts that go beyond medicines in areas such as Research & Development (R&D), and health system strengthening via its flagship Blueprint for Innovative Healthcare Access program in Kenya and Rwanda.

About the Access to Medicine Index
The Access to Medicine Index is published every two years by the Access to Medicine Foundation, an independent, not-for-profit organization and is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, plus the UK and Dutch governments. The 2021 Index tracks company action to rank 20 of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. It measures companies’ actions to improve access to medicine across 106 low- and middle-income countries and in relation to 82 high-burden diseases, conditions and pathogens. The analytical framework for 2021 has a new, focused structure, with 33 indicators grouped into three Technical Areas: Governance of Access; Research & Development; and Product Delivery. 

About Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE: 4502/NYSE: TAK) is a global, values-based, R&D-driven biopharmaceutical leader headquartered in Japan, committed to discover and deliver life-transforming treatments, guided by our commitment to patients, our people and the planet. Takeda focuses its R&D efforts on four therapeutic areas: Oncology, Rare Genetic and Hematology, Neuroscience, and Gastroenterology (GI). We also make targeted R&D investments in Plasma-Derived Therapies and Vaccines. We are focusing on developing highly innovative medicines that contribute to making a difference in people’s lives by advancing the frontier of new treatment options and leveraging our enhanced collaborative R&D engine and capabilities to create a robust, modality-diverse pipeline. Our employees are committed to improving quality of life for patients and to working with our partners in healthcare in approximately 80 countries. For more information, visit https://www.takeda.com.

Media Contacts:
Japanese Media
Kazumi Kobayashi
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Media Outside Japan
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