Creating the "Method" to Create Medicine

Compounds that can become medicine are sometimes found within living organisms like plants and microorganisms.

However, in many cases, the quantity is insufficient.

Ms. Fujita is researching "methods for creating" medicine, such as how to efficiently produce large quantities of such compounds

or how to easily create them from available materials.

As of December 2021

Photo by: Keio University Faculty of Pharmacy

"I get excited when I encounter a compound that has no established method of creation or seems difficult to make." First, looking at the chemical structural formula of the compound, she thinks about what components to use and in what order to react them. "The process of actually creating a compound that can become a medicine is just plain fun." But things don't always go as planned. In those moments, she gets hints from papers or conversations with her professor and fellow researchers, and she tries a slightly different method. She says that through repeated trial and error, she sometimes encounters unexpected reactions or discovers how to create compounds with new effects. "That's why it's interesting whether it works out or not."

Ms. Fujita has developed a method for mass-synthesizing rare, potentially medicinal compounds in just six steps from a compound abundantly available from plants, as well as a method for adjusting the effects of a drug by freely altering the chemical structure of the compound.

At the university, she had opportunities to see doctors and pharmacists working together at Keio University Hospital and to hear directly from patients, which seems to have provided ample chances to consider how to apply the knowledge she gained and the results of her daily research to society. "After graduation, I will join a pharmaceutical company and give back to society by making full use of the knowledge I have cultivated," says Ms. Fujita. She considered continuing her research at the university, but the deeper she delved into her research, the stronger her desire to create medicine and deliver it to patients became.

"In the future, I want to conduct research that leads to the development of therapeutic drugs that can fundamentally cure diseases. While there are many drugs that can slow progression or alleviate symptoms, the reality is that there are still few that can provide a fundamental cure." As she speaks, Ms. Fujita's voice is filled with energy for her next challenge.

Q. What does pharmaceutical science mean to you?

A. It means understanding the body's mechanisms and functions, and then infusing that knowledge into medicine to release it to the world.