Like many of its peers in Japan, Takeda has initiated a major effort to increase its activities outside the domestic market in order to develop into a global pharmaceutical player. The company started a five-year plan in 2001 to reduce its reliance on the Japanese market, and the Irish facility is a key pillar of that strategy.

Takeda is well on the way to fulfilling its ambition, and now makes 70 per cent of its sales overseas. Actos is a key driver for that growth and the company said that the new plant near Dublin will give Takeda complete drug production capability in Ireland and make its production operations more efficient in terms of cost and location.

Takeda has been operating a formulation and packaging plant in Ireland since 1997 at which it made products using raw materials shipped from Japan, but it can now undertake the entire production process from a European base. Both these plants will be run as separate companies.