The new agreement was declared by London Mayor Boris Johnson during a trade visit to Japan, where the Conservative Party mayor and his entourage was attending a conference called ‘BioJapan.’
The announcement is in keeping with a recent trend where Japanese businesses have been investing heavily in London, especially with life sciences. There are some 2,000 life science companies in London and the South East of England.
The new collaboration will focus on Parkinson’s, Huntington’s and Motor Neurone Disease, looking at the role played by genetic mutations in triggering these neurodegenerative conditions. This will hopefully reveal new types of treatments that can be developed.
Neurodegenerative diseases are associated with neurodegeneration. Neurodegeneration is a general term covering the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons. Most neurodegenerative diseases are the result of neurodegenerative processes triggering by some kind of genetic mutation. For example, Alzheimer’s disease is characterised by loss of neurons and synapses in the cerebral cortex.
The partnership will run, initially, for a three year period. Scientists from Japan and the U.K. will work on drug discovery research side-by-side.
Speaking with PharmaFile, Dr Tetsuyuki Maruyama, who works at Takeda stated: At Takeda, we work with partners to accelerate innovation. We are looking forward to collaborating with UCL’s world-class researchers. This cooperation will help us to identify and validate novel therapeutic pathways in central nervous system diseases, which is one of Takeda’s core therapeutic areas – ultimately leading to new treatments for patients suffering from neurodegenerative disorders.”
Meanwhile, over in the U.S., Takeda recently purchased the company URL Pharmaceuticals for $800 million.
