Takeda Pharmaceutical and Japan's National Cancer Center have entered into a plan to find and develop anticancer agents and a way to get them to Japanese patients quickly. The plan, in part, is to build on their collaboration on a genomic screening project led by the NCC.
The nationwide "SCRUM-Japan" genomic screening project built a database of genetic and medical information by screening for oncogene abnormalities. The NCC is to carry out basic research on the pathogenesis and susceptibility of a cancer to drugs. Takeda is to use the knowledge gained and its own technology to develop treatments.
The two said that with the shared database, they expect to be able to speed research and development of new medicines. A major emphasis of their joint work is aimed at developing drugs and diagnostics to zero in on cancers specific to the Japanese population.
A Takeda executive said the hope was "that together we can have greater impact in a shorter amount of time to bring innovative treatments to the oncology community."
- here's the release