Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited announced a mutual agreement with IDT Biologika GmbH, a contract development and manufacturing organization, to utilize capacity at IDT previously reserved for Takeda’s dengue vaccine candidate (TAK-003) to manufacture the single-shot COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. At the end of a three-month period, the capacity will be returned to Takeda to resume critical manufacturing for the planned launch of its dengue vaccine, subject to regulatory approvals.
“We are pleased to work with IDT to support Janssen’s efforts to make its COVID-19 vaccine available and accessible to as much of the world as possible,” said Rajeev Venkayya, President, Global Vaccine Business Unit at Takeda. “We also recognize the massive unmet need for a dengue vaccine and will work closely with IDT to mitigate the impact on the supply of TAK-003.”
“I am grateful to our longstanding customer Takeda for their flexibility, allowing us to help provide much-needed COVID-19 vaccines to the world,” said Jürgen Betzing, IDT Biologika’s CEO. “It has become abundantly clear over the past months that the challenges posed by the pandemic can only be solved by cooperation and commitment. I believe this short-term arrangement between three industry organizations demonstrates our sector’s willingness and ability to contribute to creatively solving this crisis. With our production for Janssen and AstraZeneca plus the development of our own COVID-19 vaccine in cooperation with the German Center for Vaccine Research, DZIF, our company can make a major contribution to the fight against COVID-19.”
With this agreement, Takeda is now supporting global access to three different COVID-19 vaccines. Takeda previously announced its commitment to providing rapid and sustained access to COVID-19 vaccines in Japan through partnerships with Novavax and Moderna. Takeda will receive a manufacturing technology transfer from Novavax and will be responsible for the development and commercialization based on manufacturing capacity of over 250 million doses. The company will also import and distribute 50 million doses of Moderna’s mRNA COVID-19 vaccine as part of a joint partnership with Moderna and the Government of Japan’s Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare (MHLW).
Takeda is well positioned to meet its commitments to support the public health needs associated with both COVID-19 and dengue. Takeda is working with regulatory authorities and recommending bodies, as appropriate, to bring its dengue vaccine candidate to people who can potentially benefit from it and are living in or traveling to communities burdened by the threat of dengue. More than half the world’s population is at risk of dengue, with that number expected to increase over the next several decades due to population growth, globalization and urbanization.