TOKYO, April 22,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Takeda Pharmaceutical Company
Limited (TSE: 4502/NYSE: TAK, President and CEO; Christophe Weber, "Takeda"), Astellas Pharma
Inc. (TSE: 4503, President and CEO: Naoki
Okamura, "Astellas"), and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking
Corporation (President & CEO: Akihiro
Fukutome, "SMBC") today announced that the three companies
signed a master agreement on April 22,
2024, to establish a joint venture company. The new company
will be dedicated to the incubation*1 of early drug
discovery programs, primarily originating from Japan and toward the creation of innovative
therapeutics.
1. Background
Japan, as one of the world's
leaders in drug discovery and development, is home to both
world-class academic institutions conducting innovative basic
research in drug discovery and global pharmaceutical companies,
with extensive expertise in early drug research and development.
Both possess a wealth of early drug discovery programs with
breakthrough potential. However, in recent years, advancing
academic discoveries from bench to bedside, known colloquially as
the "valley of death", has presented a major challenge when it
comes to unleashing the full potential of innovative technologies
and seed assets originating in Japan. In response to this
challenge, the three companies have been engaged in discussions to
establish a joint venture company that will seamlessly cover the
entire drug discovery process, spanning early drug discovery
research through the inception of drug discovery startups.
2. Joint Venture
Company: Planned Overview
Name
|
To be
determined
|
CEO
|
Toshio Fujimoto, MD,
MBA*
|
Location
|
Shonan Health
Innovation Park (Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan)
|
Capital
|
Approximately 600
million yen (including capital reserve)
|
Capital
Structure
|
Takeda 33.4%, Astellas
33.4%, SMBC 33.2%
|
Establishment
|
Mid-2024
|
Business
|
Incubation of early
discovery programs to develop innovative therapeutics primarily
originated from Japan
|
*Toshio Fujimoto will
concurrently serve as President and Representative Director of the
iPark Institute Co., Ltd.
3. Business
Focus
The joint venture company will focus on the following three
aspects:
- Advancing innovative drug discovery programs primarily
originating in Japan into the
global pharmaceutical market.
- Incubating globally competitive drug discovery technology and
fostering entrepreneurship.
- Unleashing the potential of drug discovery ecosystem in
Japan through the creation of high
caliber start-up companies.
In addition to establishing the joint venture company, Takeda
and Astellas will provide support to the joint venture company
leveraging their expertise gained from global drug discovery
research and development, aiming to accelerate open innovation in
early-stage drug discovery, and toward the creation of start-up
companies for the benefit of society.
The joint venture company plans to begin incubation activities
by collaboratively working with academia, pharmaceutical companies,
and start-up companies across Japan to enable access to potentially
transformative early drug discovery programs.
4. Future Plans
The three companies will further discuss the details of the
agreement to complete the inception of the joint venture company
and commence operations, aiming for a swift launch of the new
incubation activities.
*1 Incubation: Services and activities
that support entrepreneurship and business creation.
About Takeda
Takeda is focused on creating
better health for people and a brighter future for the world. We
aim to discover and deliver life-transforming treatments in our
core therapeutic and business areas, including gastrointestinal and
inflammation, rare diseases, plasma-derived therapies, oncology,
neuroscience and vaccines. Together with our partners, we aim to
improve the patient experience and advance a new frontier of
treatment options through our dynamic and diverse pipeline. As a
leading values-based, R&D-driven biopharmaceutical company
headquartered in Japan, we are
guided by our commitment to patients, our people and the planet.
Our employees in approximately 80 countries and regions are driven
by our purpose and are grounded in the values that have defined us
for more than two centuries. For more information, visit
www.takeda.com.
About Astellas
Astellas Pharma Inc. is a
pharmaceutical company conducting business in more than 70
countries around the world. We are promoting the Focus Area
Approach that is designed to identify opportunities for the
continuous creation of new drugs to address diseases with high
unmet medical needs by focusing on Biology and Modality.
Furthermore, we are also looking beyond our foundational Rx focus
to create Rx+® healthcare solutions that combine our
expertise and knowledge with cutting-edge technology in different
fields of external partners. Through these efforts, Astellas stands
on the forefront of healthcare change to turn innovative science
into VALUE for patients. For more information, please visit our
website at https://www.astellas.com/en.
About Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
Sumitomo
Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) is a subsidiary of Sumitomo
Mitsui Financial Group, Inc., which operates 455 branches in
Japan (excluding branch offices
and agents) and 19 overseas (excluding branch offices and
representative offices). For more information, visit
https://www.smbc.co.jp/global/.
Cautionary Notes(Astellas)
In
this press release, statements made with respect to current plans,
estimates, strategies and beliefs and other statements that are not
historical facts are forward-looking statements about the future
performance of Astellas. These statements are based on management's
current assumptions and beliefs in light of the information
currently available to it and involve known and unknown risks and
uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to
differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking
statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: (i)
changes in general economic conditions and in laws and regulations,
relating to pharmaceutical markets, (ii) currency exchange rate
fluctuations, (iii) delays in new product launches, (iv) the
inability of Astellas to market existing and new products
effectively, (v) the inability of Astellas to continue to
effectively research and develop products accepted by customers in
highly competitive markets, and (vi) infringements of Astellas'
intellectual property rights by third parties. Information about
pharmaceutical products (including products currently in
development) which is included in this press release is not
intended to constitute an advertisement or medical advice.
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