Takeda Ireland, a subsidiary of the giant Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd, is to close one of its three plants at Grange Castle facility in Clondalkin, staff have been told. Employees at the P3 plant have been left upset at the news, Gript was informed.
Some 100 people are employed at the plant, known as Takeda Grange Castle P3, where Alofisel, a cell therapy drug that is used to treat complex anal fistulas which are a feature of Crohn’s disease, is produced.
Takeda has had a presence in Ireland for more than 25 years, employing about 900 people at present until this announcement.
Last October, Alofisel came up short in a phase 3 trial, when, in a 569-patient ADMIRE-CD II study, Alofisel did not meet its primary endpoint of combined remission at 24 weeks, Fierce Pharma reported.
Takeda did not report the full data, saving the reveal for a future medical meeting or a peer-reviewed journal, the Japan-based company said.
“While we are disappointed with this outcome, we recognize that medical research for difficult-to-treat conditions such as complex CPF remains challenging,” Chinwe Ukomadu, Takeda’s head of the GI & inflammation therapeutic area unit, said in a release. “We believe there are valuable lessons to learn from ADMIRE-CD II.”
Takeda did not reveal its plan for Alofisel as it continues to “assess the financial impacts of the study results, including impairment loss for intangible assets,” the company said. Any potential revisions to the company’s forecast for the fiscal year will be announced during its second-quarter earnings call on Oct. 26.
A 5th May 2022 report said that Takeda was that day celebrating the opening of a cell therapy production facility at its Grange Castle site.
“The commercial scale cell therapy production facility is the first of its kind in Ireland and will play an important role in supplying European, US and Canadian markets with a cell therapy treatment option for patients. There are over 100 people currently working at the cell therapy facility with another 100 new jobs to be filled over the next 3 years,” the IDA announcement said.
Separately, last October, Takeda Ireland said it would pay the Revenue Commissioners €130 million in order to settle a case which was tied back to a failed deal dating back almost a decade ago.
The Revenue had been chasing Takeda for a €398 million tax bill which was tied to takeover in which another firm, Shire, had been involved. Takeda bought Shire in 2019, making it liable for the tax bill.
“Under the terms of the agreement with Irish Revenue, Takeda will make a payment to Irish Revenue of €130 million including interest and without penalties, as a full and final settlement of all liabilities in relation to the receipt of the break fee,” Tokyo-based Takeda said in a statement. “The settlement amount will be paid to the Irish Revenue in the quarter period ending December 31st,” it added.