In a dynamic and constantly evolving pharmaceutical industry, Takeda represents a global leader committed to improving the lives of patients around the world. According to Georgios Faidon Kalomoiris, General Manager for the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Takeda takes a holistic approach to healthcare, combining cutting-edge innovation with a deep-rooted sense of social responsibility.
What were the key factors that led Takeda to enter the Czech and Slovak markets over a decade ago?
Takeda is a world leader in biopharmaceuticals, and we started our mission more than 240 years ago in Osaka, Japan. Our philosophy is based on a commitment to patients, people, and our planet, with the primary goal of developing and delivering therapy options that fundamentally change patients’ lives. Today, we operate in over 80 countries and regions around the world with more than 50,000 employees, whose daily mission is to improve the health and quality of life for patients. We apply this philosophy in our operations everywhere so that patients all over the world have access to modern innovative treatments. This includes the Czech Republic and Slovakia, where I have the honor of leading a team of highly dedicated professionals. Our company’s history in both markets dates back to 1994 through the acquisition of several businesses, while the brand itself has existed in the region since 2012.
Your primary activities focus on rare diseases and blood plasma therapies. Can you briefly introduce them?
Our key focus is innovative therapies for patients suffering from many rare as well as complex, lifelong and chronic diseases. These are serious, debilitating conditions not only for the patients themselves, but also for their loved ones. We leverage scientific knowledge and utilize available resources to drive research advancements and provide treatments that aim to restore and improve the quality of life for those who require them. Examples include short bowel syndrome or hereditary angioedema, both of which are life-threatening conditions. We strive to accelerate the development of new treatments and ensure their timely availability for patients suffering not only from these diagnoses.
Georgios Faidon Kalomoiris Photo: Takeda
What about plasma-derived therapies?
These therapies primarily help patients who have few or no other treatment options and their treatment is completely dependent on blood plasma, as it cannot be produced artificially. Since plasma cannot be replaced by anything in the production of certain medicines, blood plasma donors are absolutely irreplaceable for many patients. Plasma-derived therapies not only help patients with rare diseases but also, for instance, people with bleeding disorders, reduced immunity, or cancer. I would like to express my immense gratitude to all voluntary donors, as they help patients with lifelong conditions who wouldn’t be able to cope without medicines made from this precious fluid.
As plasma-derived therapies are one of our top priorities, we are working closely with the medical community and key institutions in this area to find legislative solutions towards the sustainability of these sensitive therapies. We are also working to strengthen our local plasma collection capacity to better serve the needs of patients in Slovakia.
Takeda’s philosophy is based on the principle of “patient first”. How does this translate into patient care?
Indeed, this approach is deeply rooted in our philosophy and guides every action we take. Patients are at the center of everything we do. Our top priority in the Czech Republic and Slovakia is to push the boundaries to speed up patients‘ access to medicines and therapies. In addition to rare diseases and plasma therapies, other key areas that we focus on include gastrointestinal and inflammatory diseases, oncology, neurology, and vaccines.
We are also currently working on an innovation in the area of post-transplant opportunistic infections, which are a common complication in transplant recipients.
We have the right strategy, values, and people capability to deliver our vision of providing life-transforming therapies.
Georgios Faidon Kalomoiris
European healthcare systems are struggling with an ageing population, rising life expectancy, and numerous budgetary constraints. How does this affect the pharmaceutical industry and what role can Takeda play in addressing these issues?
European healthcare systems, including Slovakia and the Czech Republic, are facing significant demographic and economic challenges. The number of people in retirement age is expected to increase, and the ratio of older people to the working age population is expected to double. Add to this the rising number of serious health conditions, and the unprecedented pressure on public health systems becomes undeniable. It is therefore important to steer public healthcare systems towards a model based on value for patients and on appropriate quality of care. We view this as the key purpose of any healthcare system, and we are committed to moving in that direction.
Can such a system be built in our region?
Takeda’s global growth strategy focuses on the research and development of innovative, life-transforming medicines and vaccines that have the potential to be best-in-class or first-in-class. At the same time, we are building resilience to external risks and investing in data, digital technologies, and technical solutions to optimize patient care and upskill our people. That’s why last year we opened an Innovation Capability Center in Bratislava to successfully manage the digital transformation of our company. It offers unique job opportunities for IT professionals, who can fundamentally shape the future of Takeda by contributing to the creation of the industry’s best data, digital and technological solutions.
Georgios Faidon Kalomoiris Photo: Takeda
You mentioned employees. What strategies are you implementing to support and empower them?
People are the key to our progress and we see supporting them as absolutely essential. The results of our annual global Employee Experience survey show that our people overwhelmingly understand how their work affects patients and are able to make decisions that are guided by our values. Local results are extremely encouraging, with over ninety percent of employees providing positive feedback and expressing a high level of engagement. We are very proud of that. We build an exceptional environment for our people to promote wellbeing, learning and development, while offering flexibility and emphasizing the value of regular face-to-face contact.
Looking ahead, I am confident that we have the right strategy, values, and people capability to deliver our vision of providing life-transforming treatments to patients and our purpose of better health for people and a brighter future for the world. Achieving great things is not without challenge and risk. But we are not afraid of moving forward, constantly asking ourselves how we can make a positive difference in patients’ and people’s lives, guided by our values and feedback from our stakeholders.
Let’s go back for a moment to the research and development mentioned in the introduction. What treatments do you plan to launch in the near future?
We are currently developing around forty new molecular entities globally, many of which have the potential to become fundamentally life-transforming therapies for patients within the next decade. We are in the midst, or nearing completion, of three innovative programs. One of them is designed for a wide range of conditions and focuses on psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and systemic lupus erythematosus. We have also signed an exclusive licensing agreement to further develop a potential new treatment for refractory metastatic colorectal cancer, and we already have signed a licensing agreement to develop a first-in-class celiac disease therapy. I believe that we will be able to bring these therapies to patients as soon as possible.
This text was written in collaboration with the client.
