‘Starting with the patient is not a slogan, it is a discipline,’ says Takeda GM

At Takeda Australia, ‘Patient Week 2026’ is more than a calendar event. It is a moment to pause, to look up from the pace of daily decisions and remember why those decisions matter.

‘Patient Week’ is part of a global initiative led by the company, inviting employees to reconnect with the lived experiences of patients. It is a deliberate reset: a time to reflect on purpose and to reaffirm the company’s values-based approach to decision-making, guided by the Patients, Trust, Reputation, Business (PTRB) framework.

In Australia, the week became a conscious step back from the day-to-day, an opportunity to reconnect policy discussions, access pathways and commercial considerations with the very real journeys of people navigating diagnosis, treatment and survivorship.

One of those journeys was shared by Lara, who joined employees to speak about being diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma at just 25. Within weeks, she was facing urgent, life-altering decisions: chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and an accelerated IVF cycle before treatment could begin.

At the time, Lara was building her career in human resources and making the kinds of life plans many people make in their mid-twenties. Suddenly, those plans were overtaken by medical appointments, time-critical choices and conversations no one expects to have so early in life. She spoke candidly about making profound decisions under pressure, often with incomplete information, and about the long shadow those decisions cast well beyond the end of active treatment.

Now cancer-free, Lara serves as a committee member of the Foundation for A Bloody Great Cause, supporting haematology research at Concord Hospital. Sharing her story during ‘Patient Week’ was part of her broader commitment to ensuring patient voices are present when decisions are complex, time-sensitive and consequential.

Dave Pearce Takeda Australia General Manager, said the week reinforces the responsibility to anchor every decision in real-world patient experience.

“PTRB helps guide how we make decisions when there are competing considerations or uncertainty,” said Pearce. “Starting with the patient is not a slogan, it is a discipline. Hearing lived experiences like Lara’s reminds us why that discipline matters.”

Because when decisions begin with patients, they do more than meet business objectives. They honour the lives behind them.

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