Takeda Pharmaceutical, which has more employees in Massachusetts than any other drug firm, is donating $6.25 million to the American Red Cross, the city of Cambridge, and the town of Lexington to fight COVID-19.
“As a company dedicated to the health and well-being of people around the globe, we recognize our responsibility to do as much as possible to help people in need due to the coronavirus outbreak,” Ramona Sequeira, president of the Japanese drug maker’s US business unit, said Wednesday.
The Red Cross will receive $4 million to make sure the organization can maintain a sufficient blood supply during the health crisis. Takeda is donating $2 million to the Cambridge Mayor’s Relief Fund and $250,000 to the Lexington Emergency Assistance Fund to help families affected by the epidemic.
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Takeda’s US headquarters is in Cambridge, and it has campuses in that city and Lexington. The company has about 5,000 employees in the state. Takeda is among many drug firms trying to develop the first medicine to treat COVID-19, focusing on a plasma-based therapy that would make patients immune to the virus.
Jonathan Saltzman can be reached at jonathan.saltzman@globe.com.