Print（PDF/37KB） Mar. 15, 2011 R&D

Laboratory for Malignancy Control Research
New cancer research facility in Kyoto University supported by Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma

Kyoto University (Kyoto, Japan: President: Hiroshi Matsumoto) and Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co., Ltd. (DSP; Headquarters: Osaka, Japan; President: Masayo Tada) announce today the launch of a new cooperative project aiming at discovering innovative drugs, diagnostic tools, and therapeutic strategies for life-threatening cancers.

Kyoto University has recently established Medical Innovation Center with the mission of recruiting and supporting industry-sponsored research projects carried out on campus, thereby accelerating the translation of the fruits of basic researches into useful products of important clinical applications on the one hand and creating the opportunities for young scientists to develop their own projects and careers on the other. In the field of Oncology, Kyoto University has established Cancer Center¹ in 2007, the first national-university-based cancer center in Japan, to provide state-of-the-art cancer treatments. In the Graduate School of Medicine, important findings of potential clinical use are being made at the molecular, cellular, and whole organism levels. Cancer is one of the five major research areas selected in the global COE program "Center for Frontier Medicine" ². The purposes of this government-supported graduate program are to foster future global leaders in medical research and to promote bidirectional interactions between basic and clinical scientists. This graduate school has also been selected as one of the two Sister Institutions in Japan by M. D.Anderson Cancer Center, the world's largest cancer treatment and research facility.

While the main focus of DSP's research efforts has been on the central nervous system, the company also recognizes oncology as one of a major speciality area with high unmet medical needs, and has already spent substantial efforts in some specific areas such as cancer immunotherapy.

Here in DSK Project, Kyoto University and DSP unite their expertise (for instance, the ample experience and knowledge from basic and clinical researches in Kyoto University and the knowledge and resources in drug R&D and regulatory affairs, and management skills in DSP) to establish a research center where selected young scientists are supported to establish their own research units and to pursue their original and promising ideas that will eventually lead to the development of new drugs, materials, or concepts useful for cancer prevention, diagnosis, or therapy.

SUMMARY
DSK Project: Laboratory for Malignancy Control Research

Purpose:

In this project, we recruit and support several groups of young researchers working in the field of molecular, cellular, and clinical oncology to find molecules and concepts useful for developing innovative cancer drugs, diagnosis, and therapy.

Term:

5 years from March 2011

Organization:

The DSK project's leadership is comprised of the Alliance Management Committee (the policy-making body), Research Promotion Committee, Drug Development Committee, and Intellectual Property Committee, each composed of the same number of members from both Kyoto University and DSP. Research will be conducted by two core research teams, several research units of young investigators, and the satellite teams in DSP, under the mentorship of the experienced pathologist, Emeritus Professor Hiroshi Hiai.