Topics Report on BioJapan 2019 Opening Ceremony, Asian Association of Pharmaceutical Associations Conference (APAC) Drug Discovery Collaboration Activities, and Biopharmaceutical Committee Seminar
BioJapan 2019 was held at Pacifico Yokohama (Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture) on October 9-11, 2019.In addition to Regenerative Medicine Japan 2019, which was held in conjunction with BioJapan 2019 as in 2018, the Ministry of the Environment also established a new Bioeconomy Zone, and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare sponsored the Japan Healthcare Venture Summit 2019, sponsored by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, was also held concurrently this year. The exhibition attracted more than 970 exhibitors from 26 countries, with more than 17,000 visitors, and more than 1,300 companies participated in partnering business meetings, one of the main attractions of the event, with the total number of business meetings apparently exceeding 11,000. The number of participating companies from overseas has been increasing every year, indicating that the trend toward open innovation, in which companies seek a wide range of business opportunities, including overseas, is becoming stronger. The Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Japan (PMAJ) also participated as one of the sponsoring organizations, and many of its member companies made presentations, and many companies and organizations exhibited alliance booths, where they met with academia and venture companies for active information exchange and interaction.
BioJapan is Japan's international biotechnology comprehensive event, and since 1986, it has been held for the 21st time in 2019. Organized by an organizing committee consisting of nine organizations, including the Japan Bioindustry Association and the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Japan, the event featured numerous seminars and presentations of academic seeds, as well as active exchanges through presentations centered on bio-ventures. The scale of the event has expanded year by year, surpassing the scale of 2018, which was the largest ever, and attracted many participants from academia, bio-ventures, bio-clusters, government officials, and companies in the pharmaceutical, chemical, food, and other fields. The number of exhibiting and partnering organizations was the largest ever, and many interviews were organized, making this the largest partnering event in Asia.
Opening Ceremony and Keynote Speech
After the opening remarks by Mr. Osamu Nagayama, President of Bioindustry Association of Japan, on behalf of the organizers, there were three keynote speeches in English by Mr. Hideki Makihara, Vice Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Mr. Yasuhiro Suzuki, Director of Medical Technology, Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Mr. Yuji Kuroiwa, Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture, and Ms. Fumiko Hayashi, Mayor of Yokohama City, followed by congratulatory speeches in English.
Mr. Hiroto Izumi, Advisor to the Prime Minister, gave a presentation titled "Japan's Innovation Strategy and Bio-Strategy 2019," explaining the position of Bio-Strategy 2019 in the Integrated Innovation Strategy 2019 being promoted by the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (CSTI) as a command post. The strategy's basic concepts include the realization of the three overall goals for 2030: bio-first thinking, bio-community formation, and bio-data drive, as well as the vision of society and market domains. He also pointed out the importance of shifting to a strategy to realize the bioeconomy, which will be a key element of a sustainable new socioeconomic system.
Then, Hiroaki Kitano, President of Sony Computer Science Laboratories, gave a presentation titled "AI-driven Life Sciences" from Paul Workman of The Institute of Cancer Research on the latest thinking and future prospects of AI-driven science, which has been called the fifth science, Paul Workman of The Institute of Cancer Research gave a presentation titled "UK Life Sciences : Innovation and Partnership to Defeat Cancer," introducing various efforts to combat cancer in the UK.
Public seminar planned by the Working Group on Drug Discovery Collaboration of the Asian Pharmaceutical Association for Cooperation (APAC)
In 2012, the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Japan (PMAJ) established the Asian Pharmaceutical Alliance Council (APAC) with the mission of "bringing innovative medicines to the people of Asia as quickly as possible. The Working Group on Drug Discovery Collaboration (WG) is working on four pillars: (1) information sharing, (2) strengthening human networks, (3) improving the capacity of drug discovery researchers, and (4) building a foundation for drug discovery collaboration, with the aim of "promoting open innovation across borders and delivering innovative drugs to people in Asia. (3) Enhancement of drug discovery researchers' capabilities, and (4) Establishment of drug discovery collaboration infrastructure.
The Pharmaceutical Cooperative Association of Japan (PPCJ) seminar at BioJapan 2019 was held on October 10 (10:00-11:30), the second day of the event, under the theme of the importance of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) and collaborative research in non-competitive areas in drug discovery. The meeting was held on October 10, 2010 (10:00-11:30).
Public seminar on "Importance of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) and Cooperative Research in Non-Competitive Areas in Drug Discovery
Pharmaceutical Cooperative Seminar on the theme of "The Importance of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP)" and "Cooperative Research in Non-competitive Areas" (BioJapan Day 2)
The moderators were Jun Hasuoka, leader of the APAC Drug Discovery Collaboration WG, and Nares Damrongchai, CEO of Thailand Center of Excellence for Life Sciences (TCELS), Thailand, and Takayuki Okubo, Assistant Director, Research and Development Promotion Division, Medical Policy Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan. Mr. Takayuki Okubo, Deputy Director, Research and Development Promotion Division, Medical Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), will discuss PPPs from the Japanese government's perspective; Mr. Kumar Singh Saikatendu, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company (USA), will discuss PPPs: past and future; Mr. Qi Kazuno, Senior Director, GHIT Fund, will give examples of PPPs in the GHIT Fund; and finally, Ms. Akiko Otani, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company (USA), will present the results of a PPP project in Japan. Akiko Otani of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company (U.S.A.) gave a presentation on the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), a new trend in PPPs in Europe. This was followed by a panel discussion among the moderator and four speakers, who enthusiastically discussed key success factors and challenges in PPPs, ways to overcome them, and ways to implement cross-border PPPs in Asia. During the discussion, the importance of leveraging the strengths of both the public and private sectors, clarifying and sharing objectives, building trust among partners, leveraging human networks, and being flexible to different cultures was pointed out (140 participants).
Panel discussion at the Pharmaceutical Consortium of Japan seminar (BioJapan Day 2)
Activities of the Asian Association of Pharmaceutical Associations for Cooperation (APAC) Working Group on Drug Discovery Collaboration using BioJapan
In addition to the aforementioned seminars, on October 8, the day before BioJapan 2019, the Division of University Corporate Relations (DUCR) of the University of Tokyo, the Life Innovation Center (LIC) in Tonomachi, Kanagawa Prefecture, and the National Institute of Health Sciences (NIHSS) in Tokyo were invited to participate. On the morning of October 8, the participants visited the University of Tokyo's Division of University Corporate Relations (DUCR) and the National Institute of Health Sciences (NIHS) in Tonomachi, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Nineteen participants from Asia (9 from Thailand and 10 from Taiwan) visited the University of Tokyo DUCR on the morning of August 8. Mr. Nobuaki Eto, Director of the University of Tokyo's DUCR Innovation Promotion Department, explained about the University of Tokyo's incubation system, and participants from Taiwan introduced drug discovery research initiatives at their respective institutions. The Thai participants introduced the life science ecosystem in Thailand.
A visit to the facilities of the University of Tokyo's Industry-University Cooperative Research Promotion Division (on the day before BioJapan)
After that, the participants took turns to tour the facilities as a team of five. Those members who did not tour the facilities had a free discussion with Katsuya Hasegawa, Specially Appointed Professor of the University of Tokyo's DUCR Innovation Promotion Department, Hideaki Tojo, Director of the same department, and others on the incubation system and other issues and problems based on the situation in each country.
Group photo of the delegation visiting the facilities of the University of Tokyo's Industry-Academia Collaboration Promotion Division (the day before BioJapan)
On the afternoon of August 8, 16 participants from Asia (9 from Thailand and 7 from Taiwan) visited LIC in Tonomachi, Kanagawa Prefecture. First, Mr. Kenichi Ohki, Director of International Strategy, Office of Healthcare New Frontier, Policy Bureau, Kanagawa Prefecture, gave an overview of Kanagawa Prefecture's efforts in the healthcare field, followed by an explanation of the research of METCELA, a venture company working on regenerative medicine for heart failure, and then a tour of LIC facilities. After that, the participants toured the LIC facilities.
A group photo of the delegation visiting facilities of the Life Innovation Center (the day before BioJapan)
The group then moved on to NIHS, where Mr. Ken Kono, Director of Regenerative and Cell Therapy Products Division IV of NIHS, explained the current Japanese regulations on regenerative medicine and cell therapy and the status of efforts at NIHS, followed by a tour of the NIHS facilities.
Group photo of the delegation visiting the facilities of the National Institute of Health Sciences (one day before BioJapan)
On the afternoon of the second day, the 10th, a meeting on natural product drug discovery (19 participants) was held with members of the Pharmaceutical Cooperative Research and Development Committee Task Force and members from Thailand and Taiwan to report on the progress of the APAC Natural Product Drug Discovery Consortium's activities in 2019 and discuss future action plans. Next, a plenary meeting of WG members on drug discovery collaboration including participants from Asia was held to discuss overall WG activities in the future (22 participants).
Biopharmaceutical Committee Seminar
As a global initiative, there is a movement to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) into the development and manufacturing process of biopharmaceuticals, following small molecule drugs, with the aim of building a highly productive production process. In 2019, the third phase of this project, entitled "The Frontiers of Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing," will be held at BioJapan. The seminar was held on October 10, 2019, as the third installment of the series. In this seminar, we focused on "smart factories" applying AI, which have recently become a hot topic, and discussed "productivity improvement = efficient use of time," such as speeding up development and improving manufacturing operational efficiency in smart factories.
Kazuhisa Uchida, Professor, Graduate School of Science, Technology and Innovation, Kobe University, and Chairman of the Technical Working Committee, Biopharmaceuticals Committee, served as coordinator. After an overview of the current situation, four presenters from different positions gave their presentations. From the standpoint of an equipment provider, Parrish Galliher of GE Healthcare Life Sciences gave a presentation on "Strategies and Technologies for the Future of Biomanufacturing," which included a discussion of contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs). From the perspective of a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), AGC Biologics/Chief Technical Officer Moller Kasper gave a presentation on "The Future of From the perspective of a user pharmaceutical company, Mr. Tetsuhiro Yanagida of Chugai's Pharmaceutical Research Department gave a presentation on "Toward a Next-Generation Factory for Biopharmaceuticals to Achieve Ultra-Low-Cost Production - Chugai's Approach -". -Finally, Simon Chalk, BioPhorum Operating Group, presented "Applying GMPs to the Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Supply Chain - An industry collaborative approach to defining the best biopharmaceuticals. Finally, Simon Chalk of BioPhorum Operating Group gave a presentation on "Applying GMPs to the Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Supply Chain - An industry collaborative approach to defining best biopharmaceutical practices which are necessary to ensure the safety of the supply chain".
In the panel discussion that followed, a lively debate took place on the specifics of smart production systems, such as how to improve methods for monitoring systems and establishing IT systems that can collect data and make appropriate decisions. The meeting was well attended by many participants (126 attendees).
The next BioJapan 2020 will be held at Pacifico Yokohama from October 14 to 16, 2020.
( Tetsushi Ito, Director General, Pharmaceutical Affairs Department; Hiroaki Masumori, Director General, Research Promotion Department; Kazuhisa Uchida, Chairman, Technical Working Committee, Biopharmaceuticals Committee)