[Special Feature: 10th Anniversary of the Faculty of Pharmacy] Development of the Center for Drug Discovery Research

2018/10/05

The purpose of the Center for Drug Discovery Research is to contribute to society through research results and to develop human resources who lead drug discovery. To this end, the Center for Drug Discovery Research was established in 2014, and the "Center for Drug Discovery Research Laboratory" was set up on campus as a base of operations, forming a network hub for conducting cutting-edge research and scientific planning of research strategies. These efforts have yielded results such as patent applications and joint research with companies, and since fiscal 2017, we have been working to further strengthen the management system by introducing a project-based system. In each project, faculty members from the Faculty of Pharmacy serve as leaders, building consortiums with companies, national research institutions, and researchers from both within Keio and outside for specific advanced drug discovery research and advanced technology development. To date, the following three projects have started their activities.

Project Leader: Professor Makoto Arita. Partner Companies, etc.: Shimadzu Corporation, Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Nitto Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd., Suntory Wellness Ltd., etc.

We will establish a research environment for drug discovery innovation equipped with state-of-the-art mass spectrometry technology. Within this environment, we will search for and evaluate drug discovery seeds, develop new technologies, and work on human resource development based on the vision of a "Faculty of Pharmacy that produces researchers who will lead the next generation." In addition, we will utilize it as a platform for joint research with external academic institutions and contribute to the promotion of fundamental drug discovery research in Japan.

Project Leader: Professor Koji Hase. Partner Companies, etc.: Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd., etc.

The purpose is to respond to unmet medical needs for rare intractable diseases and chronic inflammatory diseases, and to contribute to the realization of a healthy and long-lived society. We will conduct research and development of next-generation antibody drugs through industry-academia collaboration for disease therapeutic target molecules cultivated in the Faculty of Pharmacy and other campuses, while also developing technical innovations for new antibody drugs, aiming to develop outstanding human resources in the field of drug discovery.

Project Leader: Professor Hideko Kanazawa. Partner Companies, etc.: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation, etc.

Utilizing the analytical chemistry techniques of the Faculty of Pharmacy, we will build an advanced research platform for molecular diagnostic systems. In addition, based on knowledge of pharmaceuticals, we will develop support technologies to optimize the process of determining treatment policies, such as medication, from molecular diagnosis. Through these efforts, we will develop excellent human resources who contribute to next-generation genomic medicine.