Research & Development

Delivering Innovative, Reliable Drugs to People Awaiting New Treatments

One of Taiho Pharmaceutical’s strengths is its ability to create innovative new drugs using its unique drug discovery platforms. Within the Otsuka group, Taiho Pharmaceutical has an important role in oncology and takes on the challenge of creating therapeutics for significant unmet needs such as cancers with brain metastasis and those with RAS mutations. We are also advancing drug discovery research in the area of immune-related diseases by applying technologies emerging from its cancer research.‍ In addition, we are pursuing global research collaboration and have built our own network with biotech ventures and academia (universities and research institutions)‍ to obtain innovative drug-discovery technologies and drug seeds, in order to supplement our own technologies and accelerate R&D.

Creating New Drug Candidates: With Close Collaboration and Using World-Class Drug-Discovery Platforms
The driver of Taiho Pharmaceutical’s in-house drug discovery is the close collaboration among departments and researchers, which together represent extensive knowledge and experience in their specialties. We have also focused on developing and expanding drug-discovery platform technologies, such as our own unique Cysteinomix Drug Discovery Platform, which has gained international recognition. Employing these technologies, Taiho Pharmaceutical has succeeded in creating an abundant development pipeline, including futibatinib, which was approved for marketing in the United States in 2022.

Leveraging External Collaboration to Accelerate R&D: Meeting the Needs of Patients Awaiting New Drugs
Taiho Pharmaceutical develops strategic alliances with external partners to enhance its R&D capabilities, seeking to deliver new drugs to patients suffering from diseases with no effective treatment. We work with an R&D network in Japan as well as Otsuka group companies, other pharmaceutical companies, and academia in the U.S., Europe, and Asia to supplement our own technologies and development pipeline and to speed up research and development.

Supporting and Collaborating with Biotech Ventures: Expanding the Potential for Future New Drugs
Taiho Pharmaceutical’s corporate venture capital firms, Taiho Ventures, LLC (established in 2016) and Taiho Innovations, LLC (established in 2019), invest in and support biotech ventures and startups around the world that are engaged in innovative new drug R&D. They aim to gain new perspectives and ideas and create innovations that will expand the potential for the new drugs of the future by accessing innovative drug-discovery technologies and seeds in invested companies and networks.

R&D Focus in Two Fields

Oncology

As a pioneer of oral anticancer drugs, Taiho Pharmaceutical conducts research and development of novel anticancer agents based on its accumulated findings and knowhow. Discovery of LONSURF, with its novel mechanism of action, was a notable achievement, following the successes of Futraful, UFT, and TS-1. Taiho Pharmaceutical seeks to contribute to the diversification of cancer treatment around the world. We work on molecular targeted anticancer agents with various mechanisms such as inhibition of protein functions involved in cancer cell proliferation, survival, angiogenesis or drug resistance, as well as anticancer agents that target cancer cell-specific metabolism and also cancer immunity, an area that has developed remarkably in recent years.

Immune-Related Diseases

Utilizing the expertise for molecular targeted drug discovery, developed through research, in oncology field, Taiho Pharmaceutical has dedicated itself to discover the drugs that target the mechanism of refractory disease, such as autoimmune diseases, as well as drugs with novel mechanisms of action applicable to rare diseases.