A Relay of Hope 

Our work begins with the need to solve a problem and then quickly becomes a mission to develop medicines that can help patients.

The first step is for our team to develop a new research approach. We then hand the baton to our colleagues responsible for development and manufacture, and they begin the process of creating a new treatment for patients.

Of course, this doesn’t always go smoothly. But I see it as a relay in which our team is constantly exchanging ideas and technology to deliver hope to patients. Drug discovery is not something that can be done in isolation but requires the expertise and collaboration of many people. So it’s important that we keep the whole process fair and unbiased. This can be quite a challenge but, after working with many colleagues over the years, I’ve come to adopt this approach naturally.

Takeda has been in business for over two centuries, but recently we’ve become even more focused and we’re moving even faster. For that reason, I think it’s especially important that I pass along the Takeda way of working to new colleagues. I learned it from those who came before me, and I’d like to continue leading this team that way so we can continue to pass along our “baton of hope.”
     

  
Maiko Tanaka

I’m a neuroscience researcher. When at work, I always try to keep an image in my mind of the patients our medicine could save. I want to contribute to a brighter future.