October 13, 2020

Takeda Accelerates Digital Transformation with Accenture and AWS



Collaboration will leverage cloud and data-driven insights to accelerate drug development, increase operational agility, reduce technology costs and develop the workforce of the future


OSAKA, Japan; NEW YORK; and SEATTLE; October 13, 2020 Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE: 4502/NYSE: TAK) (“Takeda”), Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have entered into a five-year strategic agreement to accelerate Takeda’s digital transformation.

Not only will patients benefit from Takeda’s ability to respond with greater speed, agility, and insights across the value chain, but customers, employees, and partners will also benefit. This long-term collaboration will fuel Takeda’s cloud-driven business transformation by modernizing platforms, accelerating data services, establishing an internal engine for innovation, and equipping Takeda’s employees with new skills and ways of working.

“By combining the power of three organizations, Takeda is making a bold move to be at the intersection of human health, technology and business growth,” said Christophe Weber, Takeda president and chief executive officer. “My vision is that, in less than ten years, every Takeda employee will be empowered by an artificial intelligence assistant to help make better decisions, enabling us to deliver transformative therapies and better experiences to patients, physicians and payers faster than previously possible. Together, Accenture and AWS will propel Takeda further than we could alone to make this vision a reality.”


Taking a cloud-first technology approach will create a more scalable, reliable and secure architecture and eliminate unnecessary integration activities. By moving 80% of applications to the cloud, Takeda will remove non-differentiating technology, reduce its internal data center footprint, and decrease capital expenditures.

“By leveraging the most comprehensive set of cloud services in the industry, innovators like Takeda can cut costs, time to insight and discovery, and improve patient experiences,” said Andy Jassy, chief executive officer of AWS. “The breadth and depth of AWS services enable Takeda to quickly and efficiently discover, develop, and manufacture therapeutics securely and compliantly. We’re excited to continue our work with Takeda as they innovate to deliver accessible and promising new therapies to save lives.”

Accelerating the delivery of data services and capabilities will help Takeda increase connectivity and collaboration with the life sciences ecosystem and external partners. For example, the collaboration has already helped Takeda harness the cloud to launch, in less than five days, a secure data sharing and clinical trial acceleration platform for the COVID R&D Alliance. Without the cloud, launching the platform would have taken up to three months.

In addition, the Plasma-Derived Therapies Business Unit, which develops critical, life-saving and life-sustaining therapies for patients with rare and complex diseases, is creating state-of-the-art, digitally-connected donation centers and modernizing the donor experience, optimizing the plasma collection process. Takeda’s plans to increase its plasma collection and manufacturing capacity by at least 65% by 2024 are geared toward expanding access to essential medicines and accelerating new treatments for patients.

"Takeda’s bold move to become a cloud first company, 80% in the cloud, is a powerful example of how transformation benefits all – from accelerating therapies for patients, to empowering employees with new ways of working, creating new jobs, and upskilling people for the digital world, to the sustainability benefits of moving to the public cloud. We are proud to partner with Takeda and AWS to make this vision a reality at speed and scale," said Julie Sweet, chief executive officer, Accenture.

Over the next three years, Takeda anticipates creating hundreds of new jobs in specialized roles in emerging data and digital fields, accessing new talent pools, and upskilling thousands of employees to propel its data and digital capabilities.

About Takeda Pharmaceutical Company
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE: 4502/NYSE: TAK) is a global, values-based, R&D-driven biopharmaceutical leader headquartered in Japan, committed to bringing Better Health and a Brighter Future to patients by translating science into highly-innovative medicines. Takeda focuses its R&D efforts on four therapeutic areas: Oncology, Rare Diseases, 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 health care in approximately 80 countries. For more information, visit https://www.takeda.com.

About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services in strategy and consulting, interactive, technology and operations, with digital capabilities across all of these services. We combine unmatched experience and specialized capabilities across more than 40 industries — powered by the world’s largest network of Advanced Technology and Intelligent Operations centers. With 506,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture brings continuous innovation to help clients improve their performance and create lasting value across their enterprises. Visit at www.accenture.com.

Takeda Forward-Looking Statements
This press release and any materials distributed in connection with this press release may contain forward-looking statements, beliefs or opinions regarding Takeda’s future business, future position and results of operations, including estimates, forecasts, targets and plans for Takeda. Without limitation, forward-looking statements often include words such as “targets”, “plans”, “believes”, “hopes”, “continues”, “expects”, “aims”, “intends”, “ensures”, “will”, “may”, “should”, “would”, “could” “anticipates”, “estimates”, “projects” or similar expressions or the negative thereof. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions about many important factors, including the following, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements: the economic circumstances surrounding Takeda’s global business, including general economic conditions in Japan and the United States; competitive pressures and developments; changes to applicable laws and regulations; the success of or failure of product development programs; decisions of regulatory authorities and the timing thereof; fluctuations in interest and currency exchange rates; claims or concerns regarding the safety or efficacy of marketed products or product candidates; the impact of health crises, like the novel coronavirus pandemic, on Takeda and its customers and suppliers, including foreign governments in countries in which Takeda operates, or on other facets of its business; the timing and impact of post-merger integration efforts with acquired companies; the ability to divest assets that are not core to Takeda’s operations and the timing of any such divestment(s); and other factors identified in Takeda’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F and Takeda’s other reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, available on Takeda’s website at: https://www.takeda.com/investors/reports/sec-filings/ or at www.sec.gov. Takeda does not undertake to update any of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release or any other forward-looking statements it may make, except as required by law or stock exchange rule. Past performance is not an indicator of future results and the results or statements of Takeda in this press release may not be indicative of, and are not an estimate, forecast, guarantee or projection of Takeda’s future results.

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Contacts:

Lara Wozniak
Accenture
+1 858 252 8208
lara.wozniak@accenture.com

Holly Campbell
Takeda
+1 617 588 9013
holly.campbell@takeda.com

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