TOKYO – Verizon Business has been selected to manage Astellas Pharma Inc's (Astellas) global network infrastructure. The network transformation will enable Astellas to harness advanced technologies to help reduce drug development timelines, healthcare costs and drive new revenue opportunities for the Japanese pharmaceutical multinational.

Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Astellas is a global pharmaceutical company involved in the research, development, manufacture, and marketing of innovative new drugs under the vision of "Stand on the forefront of healthcare change to turn innovative science into VALUE for patients". The company employs 14,000 employees worldwide.

The company has identified digital transformation as a key driver of its business growth and began the search for a global partner to transform all aspects of its global technology infrastructure including building, designing and executing a next-generation secure network. In particular, Astellas was looking for a scalable and predictable platform that could seamlessly manage tens of thousands of devices and endpoints across Astellas' 70+ global locations across a virtualized multi-sourced environment.

Verizon's relationship with Astellas stretches back more than a decade. In 2016, Astellas successfully deployed Verizon's Secure Cloud Interconnect (SCI) solution to provide a high-bandwidth secure connection to its Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure cloud services. Verizon's current remit includes the build and deployment of Astellas' global integrated network with a full suite of managed services, including Managed Wide Area Network, Local Area Network, Managed Security Services(MSS), Secure Gateway, Zero Trust Network Access and Unified Communications and Collaboration as a Service.

Today's announcement builds on the company's network-as-a-service foundation and supports its private networks, mobile edge compute and business solutions vectors of growth.

Read the full press release here.

Verizon