Japanese Company Takeda Partner in Improving Rare Disease Diagnostics

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and Regional Director of the Japanese company Takeda for Eastern Europe Kieran Leahy signed a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in the area of the BIO4 campus in order to improve the diagnosis of rare diseases on Thursday, February 9.

Brnabic expressed satisfaction with the cooperation in that area with the Japanese company, reminding that it had existed for 242 years, according to the website of the Government of Serbia.

In the past few years, we have worked on several projects involving telemedicine, and since last year we have also focused on projects concerning the use of artificial intelligence in medicine in order to increasingly develop personalized medicine, improve the health care of our people, especially those suffering from rare diseases, she stated.

The prime minister expressed her gratitude to the Japanese company for recognizing Serbia as a country that invests in new technologies, but also as one of, as she said, Europe's most important forces in research, development and innovation.

Brnabic said that she would work on Takeda’s opening a research and development center in Serbia, as well as being one of the first partners within the BIO4 campus.

In 2021, the annual research and development budget of Takeda amounted to USD 4.7 billion, the prime minister emphasized and expressed hope that the signed agreement would bring at least a part of that to Serbia.

Leahy explained that the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding was a continuation of the long-term joint efforts to upgrade healthcare in Serbia.

The strategic priorities of the Japanese company are largely harmonized with the priorities of the Government of Serbia, such as digitization in healthcare or our partnerships in research in order to ensure the predictability and sustainability of the healthcare system through the use of AI tools, but not just limited to them, Leahy said.

According to him, the research entails cooperation between the Artificial Intelligence Institute and clinical experts to the end of the optimization of rare disease diagnosis.

He also said that the company’s aim was to maximally invest its dedication, expertise and resources in order to additionally improve the quality of life for patients in Serbia.

Vlada Republike Srbije

Takeda d.o.o. Beograd

Istraživačko-razvojni Institut za veštačku inteligenciju Srbije Novi Sad

Government of Serbia

Takeda

BIO4 campus

Artificial Intelligence Institute

Ana Brnabic

Kieran Leahy

rare disease diagnostics

telemedicine

artificial intelligence

research and development center