Case Study: Takeda Pharmaceutical Company achieves scalable remote access and business continuity with Zscaler

How Takeda Pharmaceutical Company scaled remote access

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, a global, Tokyo-headquartered drugmaker that doubled in size after acquiring Shire, faced a disjointed, appliance-heavy network (roughly 320 firewalls) and the need to securely scale remote access for a large, distributed workforce—while keeping regulatory and on-premise constraints for R&D and manufacturing in mind. CISO Mike Towers needed a faster move to a Zero Trust, cloud-native model to integrate disparate networks, replace legacy VPNs, and support a sudden surge in work-from-home demand during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Takeda standardized on Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA) and Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) to deliver app-by-app, cloud-native connectivity with local internet breakouts and integrated CASB controls. The result was rapid, scalable remote access with better user experience and security, significant cost savings from retiring VPN and firewall hardware (cutting hundreds of appliances toward a dozen), reduced expensive WAN links, and simplified, more controllable access to applications whether on-premise or in the cloud.

Takeda

Mike Towers

Chief Information Security Officer