The University of Tokyo and Eisai Launch Joint Research Initiative on Targeted Protein Degradation Technologies and Novel Drug Discovery
Eisai
Pharmaceutical Product R&D and Manufacturer
University of Tokyo
The University of Tokyo is Japan’s first national comprehensive university. As a leading research-intensive institution, it offers undergraduate and graduate programs across all academic disciplines and conducts research spanning the full spectrum of scholarly inquiry. Currently, the University comprises 10 faculties, 15 graduate schools, 11 affiliated research institutes (including the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology), 13 university-wide research centers, 3 affiliated libraries, and 3 advanced research institutes. In addition, each faculty, graduate school, and research institute maintains its own related affiliated organizations.
Tokyo, October 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Tokyo (President: Makoto Gonokami; “the University of Tokyo”) and Eisai Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo; CEO: Haruo Naito; “Eisai”) recently announced the establishment of a collaborative project focused on the development of targeted protein degradation technologies and new drug discovery, along with a social collaboration initiative titled “Discovering Protein-Degrading Drugs.” The research program will span five years, from October 1, 2020, to September 30, 2025.
Social Collaboration Courses are established and operated with funding from private organizations committed to research collaboration with the University of Tokyo on public issues of mutual concern.
The Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Tokyo will launch a course titled “Discovery of Protein-Degrading Drugs.” Dr. Mikihiko Naito, former Director of the Department of Molecular Target and Gene Therapy Products at the National Institute of Health Sciences, has been appointed as Project Professor for this initiative. He will lead research on protein degradation technologies, including SNIPER. This research will integrate the world’s most advanced ubiquitin-proteasome studies conducted at the Graduate School with Eisai’s expertise in drug discovery, aiming to develop novel protein degradation technologies targeting druggable proteins and to advance drug discovery research based on these technologies. Furthermore, through this research, the course will educate and cultivate the next generation of leaders in this field.
Targeted protein degradation encompasses a range of technologies in which precisely designed compounds bring target proteins into proximity with E3 ubiquitin ligases, leveraging the ubiquitin-proteasome system to induce degradation of the target proteins. This technology offers a drug development approach not only for conventional targets, such as specific enzymes and receptors, but also for disease-related proteins that have hitherto been considered undruggable. Through the development of this technology and associated drug discovery efforts, the University of Tokyo and Eisai aim to provide new therapeutic options for patients with previously limited treatment choices.