Takeda Pharmaceutical has announced the establishment of a new R&D facility in San Diego in the U.S. state of California to ramp up its basic research on gastroenterology and central nervous system diseases, which it identifies as an area of focus. It will staff the new facility with researchers in biology and other highly specialized fields to accelerate the development of new drugs.

Along with Boston and Fujisawa in Kanagawa Prefecture, Takeda identifies San Diego as one of its three research hubs for the development of innovative medicines. The new facility was built near its existing research center.

The new R&D center has three levels above ground and one below with a total area of about 50,000 square meters. It will consist of four research teams including one on biology. The teams will aim to develop new drugs for gastroenterology disorders such as ulcerative colitis and central nervous system diseases like depression.