As a part of Takeda’s larger plan to boost production of its plasma-derived therapies, the company is allocating $230 million to expand its manufacturing site in Los Angeles.
Giles PlatfordThe site will be able to process around two million liters of plasma each year once the expansion is complete, said Giles Platford, president of Takeda’s plasma-derived therapies business unit, in an interview with Endpoints News. The investment will also add 125 new jobs at the facility, which currently employs around 900 people.
Platford said the expansion is due to the demand for plasma-derived therapies increasing over the past 20 years. “We’ve not been able to catch up in terms of the ability to supply all the unmet needs globally,” he added. The expansion is a part of the company’s plan to increase plasma supply and manufacturing capacity by 65% by 2028.
Takeda separates plasma from the blood in a process called plasma fractionation. Plasma-derived therapies, such as immunoglobulins, are designed to replace missing or deficient proteins in patients.
Typically, two million liters of plasma will produce around eight metric tons of immunoglobulins, Platford said. Plasma volumes need to be high because each patient needs around 100 to 1,000 donations of plasma depending on the disease, he added.
Plasma-derived therapies are used for rare, chronic and genetic diseases, including immunodeficiencies and bleeding diseases, the company said. Therapies produced at the LA site include three marketed products: Gammagard liquid, HyQvia and Cuvitru.
Collecting, separating, purifying and distributing plasma-derived therapies is very costly, complex and lengthy, Platford said. “This is why companies need to continue investing in capacity expansion,” he added.
A section of the facility, previously used as a warehouse and storage space, will be repurposed, which is ideal because it is a cheaper option and has less of an environmental impact, Platford said. Warehouse space and storage will be moved elsewhere.
Takeda has other plasma-focused US facilities in Round Lake, IL, and Covington, GA, and six others outside the country. A new site in Japan was announced in March 2023. The company has a network of 250 plasma donation sites to collect plasma on top of some third-party suppliers, Platford added.
Adding to production bottlenecks for plasma-based therapies, Platford said that collecting plasma from donors is legal in only five countries: the US, Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria and Germany. And there is an over-dependence on the US, which represents 70% of all collected plasma, he added.
“Our goal is always to focus on building as much as possible in-house capabilities, capacity infrastructure, because we’re a leading player in the plasma space,” Platford said.