Takeda to Expand Cancer Drug Plant in Dublin

Leading Japanese pharmaceutical producer Takeda has announced it will invest €40 million in a new production facility at its Grange Castle site in Dublin, Ireland. Primary purpose of the new plant is to accommodate expanded output of its new multiple myeloma drug Ninlaro, which it expects to be a top-seller. The plans include construction of a standalone high-containment production facility for this drug alone. Altogether, the expansion will create some 40 new jobs.

Ninlaro, the first orally active proteasome inhibitor on the market, recently won approval from the European Medicines Agency in a reversal of an earlier rejection. The drug received US approval in 2015. The announcement was the second significant investment news unveiled by the Japanese drugmaker in a week. Takeda said earlier it planned to spend €100 million on erection of new vaccine manufacturing plant at Singen, Germany. The Tokyo-based company is one of several in the race to develop a vaccine against dengue fever.

With US sales of about $125 million in the first six months of the fiscal year, the new oncology drug is said to be making headway against injectables such as Takeda’s current blockbuster Velcade and Amgen's Kyprolis (carfilzomib), which is said to be currently underperforming. The Japanese drug’s popularity is despite the fact that it is approved only for use in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone in patients who have received at least one prior therapy.

Christophe Weber, Takeda’s first non-Japanese CEO, recently told investors he expects Ninlaro to be the company’s best-selling cancer treatment, topping Velcade. The drug is performing better than expected in the US. A European market launch is said to be planned for next year.