AsianScientist (Feb. 16, 2015) – The National University Corporation Osaka University and Astellas Pharma Inc. have entered into an agreement to establish a joint research chair with a view to developing fundamental technologies for next-generation cell therapies.
Under the agreement, the joint research chair of “Department of Translational Cell Therapy” has been established within Osaka University. Led by Professor Yoshiki Sawa, the department will operate a laboratory facility in the Bio Systems Building of the Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences.
Cell therapy is a form of medical treatment in which human cells are transplanted to restore biological function. Despite the potential of cell therapy in regenerative medicine, a number of issues have still to be addressed before it becomes established as a mainstream therapy, including rejection associated with allogeneic cell transplantation therapy.
The joint research chair will address fundamental technologies for cell therapy research, early realization of clinical studies, and investigation of potential cell therapy candidates through collaborative research conducted by experts and researchers from Osaka University and Astellas.
Osaka University been involved in the development of treatments for severe cardiac diseases through transplantation of autologous skeletal muscle cell sheets or iPS cell-derived myocardial cell sheets and treatment of corneal diseases with regenerative corneal cell sheets. In 2003, a Medical Center for Translational Research was established at Osaka University Hospital to support translational research activities.
Since May 2013, Astellas has undertaken major reorganization to reinforce the company’s drug discovery capabilities and is promoting research and development aimed at creating innovative medical products by taking on challenges in new therapeutic areas and working on fundamental drug discovery technologies under its network type research framework. The company established a “Regenerative Medicine Unit” in April 2014 as a new organization dedicated to expanding its research activities and development efforts for established regenerative medicine research and embarking on full-scale research into cell therapies.
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Source: Astellas.
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