CiRA & Takeda Announce Joint iPS Cell Research

Takeda, Japan’s largest pharmaceutical company, will provide US$166 million of funding for iPS research over the next ten years.

AsianScientist (Dec. 29, 2015) – The Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) at Kyoto University and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Takeda) have initiated a joint research program to develop clinical applications of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS).

The ‘Takeda-CiRA Joint Program for iPS Cell Applications’ (T-CiRA) will begin research in six core directions to explore clinical applications of stem cells in therapeutic areas including cancer, heart failure, diabetes mellitus, neuro-degenerative disorders and intractable muscle diseases.

Induced pluripotent stem cell technologies have the potential to bring about ground-breaking transformations to future medical treatments, and their applications span a variety of fields, including drug discovery, cell therapy and drug safety assessments.

Over the next ten years, Takeda will provide collaborative funding of 20 billion yen (~US$166 million), and jointly run multiple projects led by researchers invited from CiRA and other universities. The collaboration is expected to make significant contributions to the application of iPSC technology into clinical practice, which requires a significant amount of time, effort and investment.

“Using iPSC technology as a tool, this collaboration will develop new approaches to drug discovery and produce new cures to intractable diseases over the next ten years,” said Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, director of CiRA, who is a Nobel laureate in 2012 for his work on iPS cells.

“Academic and research partnerships, particularly with renowned scientific institutions such as Kyoto University, are critical to advancing clinical knowledge and potential future applications that could improve patient lives,” said Mr. Christophe Weber, President & CEO of Takeda. “This partnership also marks a new direction for Takeda, by exploring cell therapies and genetic strategies to avert and remedy disease.”

Currently, six projects are carried out simultaneously at Takeda’s Shonan Research Center (Kanagawa, Japan) as the main venue, with approximately 60 researchers in total from CiRA and Takeda. New projects will be added to the T-CiRA Program when the new laboratory space is completed in April, 2016, according to Takeda.

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Source: Takeda; Photo: Jun Seita/Flickr/CC.
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