Takeda China Successfully Hosts 2023 Innovation Challenge, Driving Digital Healthcare Transformation Through Local Innovation

ShanghaiNovember 21, 2023/PR Newswire/ -- Recently, Takeda China held the 2023 Takeda China Innovation Challenge in Shanghai, continuing to recruit commercially viable digital healthcare innovation solutions for TakedaSpark, its open innovation incubation platform. After an initial recruitment and preliminary selection process, five teams stood out and will collaborate with Takeda China on proof-of-concept pilot projects to promote the commercialization of digital innovation solutions and accelerate the benefits for Chinese patients from advancements in digital healthcare. Senior Vice President of Takeda Pharmaceuticals Global and President of Takeda China, Guohong Shan, Head of Takeda China's Digital Technology Team, Qing Gu, Partner of PwC China’s M&A Advisory Services, Ying Fei, President of Shanghai Biomedical Innovation and Transformation Fund, Qiushan Guo, Managing Director of Accenture Greater China's Strategy and Consulting Division and Head of Data and Insights Business for Asia-Pacific and Latin America, Hong Yuan, Director of Healthcare and Life Sciences Industry at Amazon Web Services, Qingchun Huang, along with representatives from other partner organizations attended this two-day event.

Takeda’s Global Senior Vice President and President of Takeda China, Guohong Shan, stated that China's pharmaceutical industry holds tremendous potential in the fields of digital innovation and new technology applications. He said, "Under the guidance of the 'Broaden China' strategy and driven by the trend of 'Accelerating Digital Healthcare,' Takeda China is actively embracing the transformative trends in digital healthcare. Over the past two years, the challenge has seen many excellent innovative solutions emerge, reinforcing Takeda China's commitment to continue collaborating with local startups to incubate and develop localized digital healthcare innovations. This year, we also look forward to further integrating and co-creating with outstanding domestic digital healthcare innovators, exploring and leading the future of digital healthcare, improving patient experiences with new technologies and innovative outcomes, for the benefit of patients in China."

Embracing Diversity to Drive Win-Win Collaboration

In 2021, Takeda China launched TakedaSpark, an open innovation incubation platform. Hoping to explore high-value innovative healthcare solutions and scalable implementation scenarios through a co-creation model with the local innovation ecosystem, it aims to provide quality medical innovation services for patients, healthcare professionals, and hospitals. After two years of development, in 2023, TakedaSpark is undergoing another significant upgrade. In addition to introducing a more diversified lineup of partners and expanding into new disease treatment areas, it has also implemented a new competition format. This format fosters internal group competition, offering participating companies greater flexibility while enhancing competitiveness to achieve higher-quality innovative solutions.

"After two upgrades and years of development, the areas focused on by Takeda China Innovation Challenge have shown a trend towards diversification. The projects selected this year target Takeda China's digital needs across market expansion, patient services, medical affairs, new product research and development, and pharmaceutical production, covering our overall value chain layout in China. They demonstrate the close integration between digital technology and various business departments. In addition, this year’s exploration areas include products that have not yet been launched, with two of the winning teams serving these new product areas," mentioned Gu Qing, head of Takeda China's Digital Technology Team. "The selected projects this year also expand the exploration scope to new areas including neuroscience, psoriasis, purpura, epilepsy, and other inflammatory diseases and rare conditions. Meanwhile, we look forward to collaborating with more diversified partners to actively explore new concepts and applications of digital healthcare within Takeda China’s core therapeutic fields, allowing more patients to benefit from advanced and effective medical services."

The two-day challenge consisted of two key segments: the Acceleration Camp and the Closed-door Roadshow. On the first day, the Innovation Acceleration Camp focused on innovation in business and technology topics. Teams composed of eight business units from Takeda China and nine startups worked on drafting and refining business plans under expert guidance based on business needs within a single day, aiming to enhance practical skills and innovative thinking while competing for spots in the finals. Additionally, the Innovation Acceleration Camp invited an expert team comprised of partners from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and PwC to provide comprehensive coaching to participants. Leveraging AWS’s Working Backwards methodology and PwC’s strategic consulting framework for business plans, the teams improved their practical execution and innovative capabilities, helping both business units and startups achieve faster commercial validation. After active preparation and practice, five teams emerged victorious during the final round held on the second day. The winning projects focused on Takeda's key therapeutic areas, integrating digital technologies with full-process disease management, including early disease screening services as well as long-term monitoring scenarios.

After fierce competition, five teams eventually emerged victorious and will collaborate with Takeda China on Proof of Concept (PoC) pilot projects.

Insightful Path: Digital Strategy Achieves Industry Benchmark

Currently, the field of digital healthcare is receiving widespread attention from all sectors of society. As a pioneer in the industry, Takeda shoulders the important responsibility of popularizing the achievements of digital healthcare, benefiting a broader patient population and medical professionals. Over the years, Takeda China has proactively embraced the transformative trend of digital healthcare, continuously accelerating its digital transformation and upgrade, aiming to use China's innovations to contribute back to global advancements in the digital healthcare sector.

In January 2022, Takeda Global announced a strategic adjustment, incorporating "fully tapping the potential of data and technology like a tech company" and "expanding dimensions in China" into Takeda's five key strategic focus areas for the future. Subsequently, Takeda Global established a new global Data, Digital & Technology (DD&T) team. Guided by the global strategy and within the context of the broader market, Takeda China will embrace digital transformation with a more open and proactive approach, accelerating its digital transformation efforts.

In November 2023, the Global Digital Trade Expo will be held in Hangzhou. Takeda will take this opportunity to host the Takeda China Digital Healthcare Innovation Conference simultaneously. The event will share Takeda’s extensive practical experience accumulated in the field of digital healthcare innovation, gather cutting-edge industry insights, co-create industry paradigms, and build an open, full-industry exchange platform and industrial community in the field of digital healthcare innovation. The Takeda China Digital Healthcare Innovation Conference will become another significant strategic initiative and external "business card" in Takeda's digital domain, supporting Takeda’s digital transformation. By establishing relationships with diverse partners, fostering cross-departmental collaboration, and investing in emerging fields, Takeda is committed to building a more open and collaborative healthcare ecosystem. These efforts aim to harness the power of digital technology to provide higher-quality treatment solutions and bring a brighter future for patients.