Agreements

Date: 2017-03-30

Type of information: Collaboration agreement

Compound: clinical applications of induced pluripotent stem cells

Company: Takeda Pharmaceutical (Japan) Center for iPS Cell Research and Application at Kyoto University (CiRA) (Japan)

Therapeutic area: Cancer - Oncology - Cardiovascular diseases - Metabolic diseases - Neurological diseases

Type agreement: collaboration

Action mechanism:

Disease: heart failure, diabetes mellitus, neurological disorders, cancer

Details:

• • On April 17, 2015, Center for iPS Cell Research Application (CiRA) of Kyoto University and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Takeda) announced that they will work together to develop clinical applications of induced pluripotent stem cells in areas such as heart failure, diabetes mellitus, neurological disorders and cancer immunotherapy. The “Takeda-CiRA Joint Program for iPS Cell Applications” (T-CiRA) is a 10-year joint program designed to expedite multiple research projects for drug discovery and cell therapy using iPS cells. CiRA Director Shinya Yamanaka, a Nobel laureate for his work on iPS cells, will direct the Program, while Takeda provides long-term funding, recommendations on research management, and facilities at its Shonan Research Center, Fujisawa, Japan. This collaboration is aligned with the purpose of National Projects of Japan on clinical applications of iPS cell technologies. Potential initial research projects include heart failure, diabetes mellitus, neuro-psychiatric disorders, and cancer immunotherapy. Additional projects will be included as the collaboration moves forward. Once set up, around 10 projects will be pursued concurrently.

Financial terms: Takeda will provide research facilities at its Shonan Research Center and collaborative funding of 20 billion yen over a 10-year period. In addition, Takeda will provide more than 12 billion yen worth of research support (facility, equipment, Takeda researchers and various research services) over the 10-year collaboration period. About 100 researchers including new researchers recruited globally are to be based at Takeda’s Shonan Research Center engaged in joint research, with each contributing about 50 researchers. Also, the access to special research assets, such as Takeda\'s compound libraries, will be provided for the collaboration.

Latest news: • On March 31, 2017,  the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application at Kyoto University (CiRA), Takeda Pharmaceutical and RIKEN announced that they will work together to search for a drug for NGLY1 deficiency. This deficiency is characterized by a variety of symptoms including developmental and motor disorders, seizure and decreased production of tears.  This genetic rare disorder is caused by mutations in the NGLY1 gene. This gene encodes N-glycanase, an enzyme that catalyzes the deglycosylation of glycoproteins. The project is a part of the Takeda-CiRA Joint Program for iPS Cell Applications (T-CiRA), which CiRA and Takeda announced in April 2015, and will be spearheaded by Tadashi Suzuki of RIKEN, who first identified the NGLY1 gene, as a principle investigator. The project was selected based on the policy of T-CiRA to deliver innovative therapeutic options to solve high unmet medical needs. The project will combine basic research at RIKEN, iPS cell technology developed by Professor Shinya Yamanaka’s group at CiRA, and Takeda’s platforms for drug discovery to develop a treatment for NGLY1 deficiency for which no remedy has been established yet.

Is general: Yes