HÀ NỘI — With the mission of creating better health for a brighter future, Takeda has advanced conscious efforts to deliver equitable health care for diverse needs.

Recently, Dr Mahender Nayak, Senior Vice President, Head of Asia Pacific Countries, Takeda, and Benjamin Ping, General Manager of Takeda Vietnam, joined the media for an in-depth conversation about how Takeda navigates Asia Pacific’s evolving health challenges and supports countries in the region, including Việt Nam.

Countries in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region are diverse, and so are their health care challenges. As a regional leader, could you share how Takeda prioritises its efforts to improve patient outcomes across such a varied landscape?

Dr Mahender Nayak: In Asia Pacific, diversity is our strength, but it also means each country faces unique health care challenges shaped by demographics, health system maturity and disease burden. Our priorities are fourfold.

Firstly, accelerating growth as health care investment rises across the Asia Pacific region. Secondly, bridging access gaps to innovative medicines and vaccines where unmet needs remain high. Thirdly, collaborating for impact to strengthen health systems and regulatory pathways. Lastly, digital leapfrogging is a critical pillar for the region.

With high internet and mobile penetration and tech-savvy Gen Z forming a significant part of the population, technology is transforming healthcare delivery. Digital tools, from AI-assisted diagnostics to disease management platforms, are enabling earlier detection, more personalised care and improved patient outcomes. Investing in digital capabilities alongside local talent is essential to improve patient outcomes and make health care more efficient and equitable. Ultimately, our focus is ensuring patients across every country, in both established and emerging markets, benefit from scientific innovation.

Việt Nam reflects many of these opportunities, from rapid economic growth to strong digital adoption, and we are committed to partnering to bring innovation to patients equitably and sustainably.

Dr Mahender Nayak, Senior Vice President, Head of Asia Pacific countries at Takeda. — Photos provided by the agency

How does Takeda address healthcare gaps?

Dr Mahender Nayak: Across Takeda, collaborations are at the heart of how Takeda advances our purpose for patients. The region’s health care landscape is incredibly diverse, from mature innovation hubs to fast-emerging markets like Việt Nam, and that calls for partnership models that are agile, inclusive and locally grounded. We anchor on localising innovation, co-creating access models and strengthening health systems so that innovation truly translates into patient benefit.

Looking at the broader region, Takeda’s pipeline continues to be one of the strongest in our history, with significant momentum in our core therapeutic areas. Recently, several late-stage therapies targeting narcolepsy, psoriasis, and polycythaemia vera have advanced with Phase 3 read-outs while some to follow by this year, with regulatory fillings to follow. This marks a pivotal moment in Takeda’s growth trajectory.

As these innovations progress from our global R&D network into Asia Pacific, strategic partnerships will play a critical role in enabling faster access and building local capabilities for the long term. Ultimately, partnerships in this region are not just about market entry or distribution, they are about building sustainable ecosystems of innovation and access, where local expertise and global science come together to impact patients’ lives.

Where does Việt Nam fit into Takeda’s Asia Pacific and global strategic vision?

Dr Mahender Nayak: Việt Nam is a key part of Takeda’s Asia Pacific strategy and reflects the growth opportunities we see across emerging markets. Our focus is on improving patient outcomes through access to innovative medicines and vaccines, strengthening diagnosis and care pathways and strengthening local healthcare systems.

For example, we support programmes that enhance early detection, enable rare and specialty disease treatment, and collaborate with health care authorities and partners to ensure patients across the country can benefit from scientific innovations.

Việt Nam is also a key market for our upcoming launches, with around five new products expected by 2028. Its dynamic economy, young population and expanding health care infrastructure make Việt Nam central to our efforts in driving innovation, partnerships and sustainable impact across Asia Pacific and beyond.

Could you share Takeda’s key efforts to support improving public health in Việt Nam in the near future?

Benjamin Ping: Takeda Vietnam is committed to partnering with the national health care system under our vision of Better Health, Brighter Future. In the coming years, we will focus on three main areas.

We are committed to supporting Việt Nam in preventing infectious diseases, especially dengue fever, by introducing a dengue vaccine and working closely with health authorities to support WHO’s goal of zero preventable dengue deaths by 2030. This includes strengthening scientific communication and sustainable prevention models that combine vaccination, vector control and epidemiological surveillance.

We are working to expand patient access to innovative medicines in gastrointestinal and inflammation, rare diseases, plasma-derived therapies, oncology, neuroscience and vaccines while enhancing health care workers’ capabilities in early diagnosis and treatment through public-private partnerships.

From 2021 to 2024, Takeda Vietnam partnered with Japan’s National Center for Global Health and Medicine and the Ho Chi Minh Society of Asthma, Allergy and Clinical Immunology on a hereditary angioedema initiative that trained over 7,500 healthcare professionals, screened 106 suspected cases, diagnosed 35 patients, and established specialised treatment centres in Hà Nội and HCM City.

Lastly, we are committed to investing in local talent and capabilities to support Việt Nam in human capital development. Our ambition is not only to bring life-transforming solutions to patients but also to empower and give international exposure to our Vietnamese colleagues and partners to shape the future of health care in Việt Nam.

We are accelerating digital and data capabilities across our organisation. This includes enhancing digital dexterity for our people, deploying advanced tools and platforms to support evidence-based decision making and exploring innovative care models such as remote engagement.

Dengue has been present in Việt Nam for decades, why is it still critical to take immediate and continuous action against it?

Dengue fever is an acute viral infection transmitted primarily by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, with the potential to escalate into large-scale outbreaks. Anyone can contract dengue, and without timely detection and treatment, the risk of severe complications and death is high. Việt Nam is a dengue-endemic country, reporting on average over 100,000 cases annually, and in 2022 alone, a record 367,729 cases were documented. This alarming trend underscores the growing threat to public health, families and the health care system.

Currently, there is no specific treatment for dengue, making prevention the only effective strategy to reduce disease burden. WHO and PAHO emphasise that vaccines are a critical component of an integrated dengue prevention and control strategy, alongside surveillance, vector management and patient care.

If we do not act now, the consequences will be severe – continued outbreaks, escalating health care costs and preventable deaths.

How can Takeda contribute to the fight against dengue fever in Việt Nam?

Benjamin Ping: Dengue is a major public health burden in Vietnam, which stands among the highest incidence rates in Southeast Asia. From January to October 2025, Việt Nam recorded 135,515 cases and 23 deaths – an increase of 28.1 per cent from the same period in 2024. Managing dengue is becoming increasingly complex, with cases now occurring year-round and spreading across Việt Nam.

Market research shows that while awareness of dengue is high, the public may not fully understand its impact, including the burden on patients from hospitalisation and missed school or work. Dengue affects not only individuals’ health and well-being but also imposes a significant economic strain on families and society.

Takeda Vietnam looks to contribute by supporting a collective, comprehensive and long-term approach to dengue prevention in Việt Nam through:

• Health care capacity-building: Over the last year, Takeda collaborated with Việt Nam’s leading medical associations and central hospitals to deliver 800 dengue training events, engaging health care professionals, including doctors, nurses and preventive health workers.

• Public awareness campaigns: In partnership with Vietnam's associations, provincial Centres for Disease Control and media agencies, Takeda has supported public communication campaigns to raise awareness, encourage proactive prevention and highlight the burden of dengue on individuals, families and society.

• Sustainable vaccine access: We see vaccines as part of the integrated strategy to control the disease. Takeda’s dengue vaccine has been recommended by WHO for introduction in countries with a high disease burden like Việt Nam. It is currently approved in over 40 countries, with more than 21 million doses distributed globally across both public and private sectors. Takeda aims to produce 100 million doses annually by 2030 to ensure a stable global supply.

Benjamin Ping, General Manager of Takeda Vietnam.

What leadership approach enables Takeda Vietnam to stay resilient and innovative in a fast-changing health care landscape?

Takeda’s vision is to discover and deliver life-transforming treatments, guided by our commitment to patients, our people and the planet.

At Takeda Vietnam, we embrace Bamboo Leadership, a philosophy inspired by the strength and flexibility of bamboo. Our focus is to have strong roots grounded in our values of integrity, perseverance, honesty and fairness, a strong stem through the development of our people, especially in the area of digital dexterity and a flexible branch which reflects bringing innovative products to meet the needs of the Vietnamese population, such as our dengue vaccine.

We also leverage digital technologies to improve engagement with health care workers while boosting employee productivity so teams can focus on value-added work that ultimately benefits patient care.

This leadership mindset ensures we remain responsive to Việt Nam’s evolving health care needs while creating long-term value for patients and society. — VNS

C-ANPROM/VN/NON/0094 Nov 2025