Takeda partners with various stakeholders in the Western Balkans in order to optimise healthcare ecosystems. We spoke with Takeda’s general manager for Western Balkan countries to discover more about the importance of innovative partnerships.
Which innovative partnerships has Takeda established in the Western Balkans to improve healthcare for the region’s citizens?
― Takeda globally constantly seek to establish global strategic partnerships for the future – examples of which include our joint projects and programmes with with top institutes and companies like MIT, Microsoft etc. In our region, we are inspired by these practices and do our best to find a similar basis for collaboration with local scientific institutes, academia, high-tech companies, start-ups etc.
Recent examples of partneships with the National Institute for AI and the National Institute for Genetic Engeneering led to the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with the Serbian Government. We mutually agreed to collaborate on the optimisation of the diagnosing of rare diseases using advanced technologies like AI and raising local capacities in order to ensure faster diagnosis and timely personalised care for patients in national centres of excellence.
How does Takeda approach value-based healthcare?
― Healthcare costs are rising unsustainably, because ageing populations have increased demand for healthcare and the range of treatment options has expanded vastly. At Takeda we believe that health systems need to urgently shift away from the traditional fee-forservice approach towards a value- based healthcare (VBHC) model, to ensure health systems are more sustainable for the future.
VBHC uses outcome data to determine whether a treatment has worked for an individual patient. Shifting away from detrimental fee-for-service models and prioritising health outcomes enhances satisfaction with the healthcare system among patients.
We are glad that governments in our region have the same understanding of the healthcare needs of the future and that we can collaborate on this common ground
We recommend health policymakers develop a strategy for transitioning towards VBHC, which includes measuring patient outcomes as an initial goal, investing in digital infrastructure, linking payment systems to the achieving of outcomes and steering resources towards the most valuable treatments (including prevention, early diagnosis, early- stage treatment and, over time, tackling health equity and the social determinants of health).
We are glad that governments in our region have same understanding for the healthcare needs of the future and that we can collaborate on this common ground. The recent Biotech Future Forum (BFF) that was organised for the second time in Belgrade, under the auspices of the World Economic Forum and the Serbian Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR), with strong support from the Serbian Government, confirmed that digitalisation and value-based, data-driven processes are being established in our healthcare systems.
Why is Japanese heritage important at Takeda?
― Throughout our 242-year history, we have been guided by the values of Takeda-ism, which incorporate Integrity, Fairness, Honesty and Perseverance. They are brought to the life though actions based on Patients- Trust-Reputation-Business, always in that order.
As a company established and based in Japan, we also have local partnerships and fruitful collaboration with Japanese Embassies in the Western Balkans, as well as with the Japanese business community. Takeda is one of the founding members of the Japanese Business Alliance in Serbia (JBAS) and we are proud that Japanese investments in our region are increasing significantly. We sincerely hope to be able to additionally strenghten the collaboration of biotech sectors between Japan and Balkan countries at the upcoming EXPO 2025 in Osaka, given that JBAS has been actively engaged in supporting and promoting this important event.
