Exploratory expedition

Life-saving therapies, delivered faster

Takeda, the global biopharmaceutical giant, is on a digital transformation journey to innovatively use technology to create better experiences and outcomes for patients, providers and payers. This means innovating continuously not only on core drug development, but also in behind-the-scenes areas such as manufacturing, procurement, shipping and distribution, to make sure that Takeda’s life-saving therapies reach more patients, faster.

“We have developed a deep partnership with TCS to set up and run an innovation factory that’s developing digital products and services across Takeda. This model centralizes domain expertise, design thinking and lean agile product development as part of an end-to-end capability that is driving digital transformation across our global supply chain. TCS is helping us embrace innovation at scale, and use the power of emerging technologies to transform our business, ”says Hansjoerg Magalhaes, Global Product Manager, ERP Commercial and Supply, Takeda. 

Improved outcomes

Departing from the traditional business analysis and design-build-test linear project life cycle, EDGE embraces co-creation, cross-functional collaboration, and continuous business-driven iterative innovation. Leveraging cloud technologies, design thinking, and location independent agile software development to provide an end-to-end product development capability, TCS is helping Takeda transform the way it launches digital products and services across its operations. A few examples:

• TCS helped build a drug substance optimization solution that uses machine learning to help supply planners optimally allocate the raw materials for drug production, leading to a reduction in raw material scrappage and an additional amount of doses produced annually.

• A mobile track-and-trace app was built to provide real-time visibility of product consignments for a newly launched product with a very short shelf life.

• A product was developed to help decision makers evaluate various transportation and shipping scenarios to optimize on time and cost of shipments while reducing carbon impact. 

• A controlled substance control tower was built to provide a single view of permits and visualization of risks associated with the global movement of controlled substance drug products.