TOKYO -- Global pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer, Bayer and GlaxoSmithKline are keeping a keen eye on the work of Japanese universi...
TOKYO -- Global pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer, Bayer and GlaxoSmithKline are keeping a keen eye on the work of Japanese universities and laboratories, as they seek partners for joint research and development programs.
Bayer Yakuhin, the German drugmaker's Japanese unit, set up a team of six people at its head office in Osaka last year to arrange projects with universities. The team has already concluded a two-year contract with Kyoto University that gives Bayer an office on campus and regular reports on researchers' work. The German pharmaceutical company is likely to launch joint studies in fields such as induced pluripotent stem, or iPS, cells, said Kemal Malik, a member of the board of management at Bayer's corporate headquarters.
GSK of the U.K. announced a deal in early January with the Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital and Institute of Gerontology in the field of bioelectronics, which implants tiny electronic devices in patients' bodies for medical purposes. Pfizer Japan, the Japanese unit of the U.S. drugmaker, also set up a system last autumn to promote joint R&D projects with universities.
Sharing the burden
Pharmaceutical companies are putting more resources into joint programs as the cost of medical research has escalated and the work became more complex. "There are opportunities in Japan, as the number of drugs developed by universities and venture businesses is limited," said Akihisa Harada, director in charge of development at Pfizer Japan.
Basic medical research in Japan is advanced and the country leads the world in the field of regenerative medicine, such as iPS cells. This earned Japan the No. 4 spot behind the U.S., Germany and Britain in the number of medical papers cited by three major scientific journals, including Nature, in the four years through 2011.
Japan is starting to put in place programs that lead from basic research to development of products. A new law took effect last November to replace the pharmaceutical affairs law to facilitate approval of products related to regenerative medicine. In addition, the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency, tasked with examining the safety of drugs, plans to increase the number of full-time employees by 40% from the current 751 over the next four years.
Fertile ground
Pluristem Therapeutics, an Israeli biotechnology venture, moved into the Japanese market last year. Opportunities are growing to release new products in Japan ahead of other countries, said Zami Aberman, Pluristem's CEO.
Now that Japan prepared the ground, it is waiting for new seeds to sprout. But it faces stiff overseas competition. Professor Hiromitsu Nakauchi of the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Tokyo, opened a laboratory at California's Stanford University in 2013.
Although Japan has better funding resources and facilities, "staff members with innovative ideas are more available and the freedom of study is greater in the U.S.," said the expert on regenerative medicine. Nakauchi plans to fully relocate his studies to the U.S. in the future. Teruo Okano, who is doing research on cell sheets and other regenerative methods at Tokyo Women's Medical University, also plans to open a laboratory at the University of Utah.
These moves suggest R&D systems in Japan still lag those of other countries. It is far behind the U.S. in applied research, and urgently needs to upgrade the skills of its researchers. It appears Japan still has a long way to go before becoming a major power in the field of medicine.
(Nikkei)
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