FX.co ★ Takeda, Astellas, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking To Form JV For Incubation Of Early Drug Discovery Programs

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Astellas Pharma Inc., and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. have disclosed a cooperative arrangement to launch a collaborative enterprise.

This joint venture will focus on the incubation of early-stage drug discovery programs, primarily deriving from Japan, aiming at the establishment of innovative therapeutic solutions. The joint venture is projected to be instigated in mid-2024, with a starting capital of around 600 million yen, encompassing capital reserve.

Takeda and Astellas will each own a 33.4% stake in the venture, while SMBC will take a slightly smaller share of 33.2%. The name of the new joint venture remains undecided. Its headquarters will be based at Shonan Health Innovation Park in Kanagawa, Japan, under the leadership of Toshio Fujimoto.

Fujimoto will continue to serve simultaneously as President and Representative Director of the iPark Institute Co., Limited. The joint venture will aim to develop innovative drug discovery programs and globally competitive drug discovery technology. Furthermore, it will concentrate on nurturing entrepreneurship and valorising the Japanese drug discovery ecosystem through the creation of high-quality start-up companies.

Takeda and Astellas are committed to providing support to the joint venture with the goal of speeding up open innovation in early-stage drug discovery and creating start-up companies for societal benefits. The terms of the agreement and the commencement of operations will be discussed further among the three companies.