A Detailed Report on BioJapan 2011
World Business Forum
1. Summary
BioJapan 2011 World Business Forum ”New Bio Growth Strategy
by Japan” was held from October 5, 2011 (Wednesday) to 7 (Friday)
at the Pacifico Yokohama, which was the 13th convention of BioJapan,
the oldest comprehensive international event on biotechnology heldin Japan since 1986. The event was sponsored by the BioJapan
organizing committee consisting of eight organizations related tobiotechnology; including JBA and Nikkei Business Publications, Inc.;and co-sponsored by the city of Yokohama with special support fromthe city of Kawasaki and the prefecture of Kanagawa and support
from 67 organizations; including Japanese government-affiliatedagencies; such as the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; andthe embassies of various countries.
In all, 327 institutions and organizations (including 25 organizations from foreign countries), including business corporations,
government agencies, universities, and regional clusters from 13
countries and regions, including Japan, participated, and a total of
20,600 people visited (last year, 25,532 people). Approximately
1,000 meetings for business partnering were arranged by using the
Web Matching System, and the total number of meetings, including
those held at display booths and conference rooms, was over 2,000 asin the event held last year. This fact indicates that the idea of using
BioJapan as a place for achieving open innovation has become
established.
A large number of key persons of Japanese and local governments
visited the event venue. Since the importance of biotechnology has
been increasing year after year, this event is expected to emerge onto
a still wider stage.

2. Opening Ceremony

3. Keynote Speech
The keynote speakers were Yasuchika Hasegawa, president andrepresentative director, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, andStephan Tanda, chairman, EuropaBio, and a member of the Managing
Board of Directors, Royal DSM N.V., Holland. Mr. Hasegawa gave aspeech titled “The Growth Strategy in Japan” and proposed that Japan
should promote growth strategy based on innovation. Mr. Tanda gave aspeech titled “Life Sciences and Material Science-Building a Bio-Based
Economy: A Bird’s Eyes View on Biotech Trends and Markets,”
explaining the strategy of DSM and the status of biotechnology
industries in Europe and appealed for building bio-based economy basedon life science and materials science.

4. Welcome Reception
A reception was given on the evening of the first day (October 5)at the InterContinental Yokohama Grand Hotel, inviting 438 people,
including guests related to corporations and researchers from Japan andforeign countries, guests related to government ministries, local
governments, and public institutions related to biotechnology, and guests
related to various regional clusters in Japan and foreign countries.
The reception started with a speech by Isao Teshirogi, president of theJapan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, on behalf of thesponsor, followed by Kagamibiraki, a ceremony of breaking open a caskof sake, which was performed in a friendly mood by guests such as
Kunihiko Fujii, chief of Commerce, Industry, and Labor Bureau,
Kanagawa Prefecture; Mr. Masato Yamada, deputy mayor of the city of
Yokohama; and Mr. Atsushi Miura, deputy mayor of the city of
Kawasaki.
Then, Koichiro Aramaki, president of the Society for Techno-Innovation of Agriculture, Forestry,
and Fisheries and Representative manager, Japan Association of Bioindus-tries Executives,
toasted a successful BioJapan. During the ceremony, eight winners each of the Japan Bioindustry
Association Award, Fermentation and Metabolism Research Grant, and the Grant for Researchon Chemical and Biological Materials, which have been selected and given every year by JBA,
were introduced. After lively conversation, the ceremony ended with a speech by Masanao
Shimizu, chairman of the Board of Trustees, Kinki Bio-Industry Development Organization,with great success.

The guests who attended the ceremony include Keiro
Kitagami, vice-minister of Economy, Trade and Industry;
Yuji Kuroiwa, governor of Kanagawa Prefecture; FumikoHayashi, mayor of the city of Yokohama; and Atsushi
Miura, deputy mayor of the city of Kawasaki. They
expressed their expectations of the growth of industries
based on biotechnology and life innovation and on
BioJapan.
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5. Seminars Given by the Sponsor
About 40 seminars were given on various topics during the forum period, and in total,
approximately 5,000 people participated. Major seminars are as follows:
1) Forum for Innovative Regenerative Medicine “To accelerate
developing medicine tasks and expectations for FIRM”
Moderated by Yasuhiro Yoshioka (chairman of the Steering
Committee, FIRM/fellow, R&D Management Headquarters, Fujifilm
Corporation)
Mr. Yoshioka explained how Forum for Innovative Regenerative
Medicine (FIRM), a General Incorporated Association, was established and started its activities in this year to help early establishmentof regenerative medicine.
Yuzo Toda, representative director/chairman of FIRM, gave akeynote speech on the definition of regenerative medicine, background and trend of the industrialization of regenerative medicine,and the significance of the establishment of FIRM, and he introduced
the activities of FIRM. In his speech, he outlined a growth projectionof the market size of the related industries in Japan (0.6 billion yen in2010, 11.6 billion yen in 2015, 332.6 billion yen in 2030; theworldwide market size reaches 48 trillion yen in the future),circumstances of clinical trials and marketing approvals, and theevolution of drug development from low molecular weightcompounds to single cells and multicellular tissues.
2) Explore the Future of In Silico Drug Discovery
Moderated by Hiroaki Hashimoto (editor-in-chief, Nikkei Biotechnology & Business)
A panel discussion was held by the following four persons to discuss the future development ofinnovation of the IT-based drug discovery in Japan.
• Information Technology Based Drug Design
Tatsuhiko Kodama (professor, University of Tokyo)
Potential drug targets in the future include (a) kinases andepigenomes, (b) cancer genomes, (c) microbial-derived biologically
active substances, and (d) G protein-coupled receptors. (a) will makeup 50% or more, probably. In particular, drugs targeted against
kinases are suitable for IT-based drug discovery because existing
drugs targeted against kinases require improvements. Moreover, drug
discovery related to (d) by the use of computer science is developing
more and more rapidly, as is apparent from recent submissions ofarticles on X-ray crystallography. Innovation in this technology must
be promoted on a national policy.

3• Predictive Computation of Pharmaceutical Protein-Ligand Affinity
Hideaki Fujitani (professor, University of Tokyo)
One of the most difficult problems in designing drugs with computers is to calculate the freeenergy of binding between the potential drug target protein and the ligand with the required
accuracy. We developed a method for calculating free energy of binding with a high accuracy
through simulation of all atoms by the molecular dynamics method. We named this method
MP-CAFEE (massively parallel computation of absolute binding free energy).
• Practical Applications of IT-based Methods in Drug Discovery Projects
Toshio Goto (director, RIKEN)
Substantial developments have been made in the techniques for the structural analysis andbinding energy measurement of proteins by X-ray. Using information obtained from thesetechniques, IT-based drug discovery is becoming utilized in the practice of drug discovery, but
it needs more time to be one of the essential methods in pharmaceutical industry. However,efficient drug discovery has not been made possible with all targets by the use of current ITbased drug discovery; the following issues have been shown:(a) With respect to new types of targets (such as epigenomes) and protein-protein interaction
targets, which are highly expected as potential drug targets, experience shows that highly active
inhibitors are seldom discovered.
(b) Methods of drug discovery based on IT provide few effective solutions to the improvementof pharmacokinetics (ADME) and toxicity (Tox), which is also required to conduct drug
discovery.
(c) Since drug discovery research in the pharmaceutical industry is performed by weekly
operating cycles of, for example, molecular design to synthesis, it is difficult to perform thenumber of calculations/analyses that are required (not less than 10 compounds) when highaccuracy calculation techniques for drug discovery are used.
• Development of Fundamental Technologies that Support IT-Based Drug Discovery such as
Discovery of Molecular Target Drugs
Gun Saito (director of Bio-Industry Division, Manufacturing Industry Bureau, Ministry of
Economy, Trade and Industry)
Project for Developing Fundamental Biological Technologies for Accelerating Genome
Drug Discovery is in effect from 2006 through 2012 in order to enhance the capabilities of the
drug discovery industry in Japan for research and development. The project includes
development of a technique to analyze the conformation of membrane proteins etc., a techniqueto analyze the interactions between membrane proteins etc. and molecules that bind thereto, atechnique to design candidates for new drugs with computers, and a technique to efficiently
manufacture new drug candidates.

43) A New Era of Genome-designed Synthetic Biotechnology
Moderated by Satoshi Harashima (professor, Osaka University)
The following seminars were given by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development
Organization (NEDO), an independent administrative agency:• Recent Advances on New Breeding Technology - More than just a trend Satoshi Harashima (professor, Osaka University)
The aim of breeding microorganisms is to design the optimal
genome that produces the desired substance from existing genomes.
Past breeding technologies required a vast amount of time and labor
to produce, for example, the desired protein by breeding yeast. In
future breeding techniques, syntheses of optimal genomes based onrational design, production of vast number of types of genomes
starting from existing genomes, and techniques for screening cellswith optimal genomes are important. The importance of developing
the next-generation breeding techniques as an example of genome
manufacturing biotechnology was described with some exemplary
applications.
• Challenge to the Limits of Bioproduction - Strategy for Break-through the Envelope of Process
Efficiency Hideharu Anazawa (director, JBA)
Japan has a history of breeding amino acid fermentation microorganisms and has been strong
in the research and development in this field. Directions for innovative technical development
have recently been proposed that led to epoch-making improvement in productivity as compared
to conventional fermentation methods.
One of them is the synthesis of the total genome of microorganisms,
which was proposed by C. Venter, and the other is the minimum
genome factory (MGF) study, which was started as a study of the
NEDO project. In the MGF study, host strains containing a genomethat is reduced to 25% to 30% of the original genome were producedby drastically reducing the genes that were not required to produce
the desired substance and breeding strains containing a genome thatwas optimized for fermentative production. With these strains, theproductivities of the desired substances have been greatly improved
compared to the maximum productivities by conventional strains. For
the future, the technique of breeding MGF strains is expected to be
widely applied to other microorganisms and cells.
• Perspectives for Recently Emerging Genome Synthesis Technology: Universal Applicability,
Rapidity, and Cost
Mitsuhiro Itaya (professor, Keio University)
Genomes are extremely large and fragile, and thus are really hard
to handle. Although genome sequences are inexpensive, genome
synthesis is expensive and takes a long time, and thus researchers
cannot afford an error. Genomes are readily broken outside cells, andhosts other than Escherichia coli must be used to maintain them bycloning.

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Keio University and Venter Laboratory succeeded in genome synthesis using Bacillus subtilis andSaccharomyces cerevisiae, respectively, as hosts. However, in this genome synthesis technique,there are many issues to be overcome with respect to universal applicability, rapidity, and cost.
Cost and rapidity are particular bottlenecks in the universal application of this technique as afundamental technology. Mr. Itaya described the aim of genome design and a perspective on
synthetic genomes corresponding to the size.
• Evolutionary Engineering of Metabolic Networks
Daisuke Umeno (associate professor, Chiba University)
Now is the age of “writing” genomes on a large scale. Writing
genomes that code for gene functions is an inefficient operation. To
overcome the issue, the construction of the metabolic network of thehost and systematized techniques for installing it are essential. First,
metabolic pathways must be designed, and then they must be
constructed with their control units.
Mr. Umeno explained the construction of regulatory networks for the purpose of productivity
improvement referring to the biosynthesis of carotenoids and discussed how to construct complex
integrated gene functions and how to utilize molecular breeding techniques in that process.
4) iPS Cell R&D Update
Moderated by Mitsuru Miyata (Executive Leader Writer, Nikkei Business Publications, Inc.)• Induction of Pluripotency by Defined Factors
Shinya Yamanaka (Director, Center for iPS Cell Research and Application, Kyoto University)
iPS cells were first produced in 2006 from mouse fibroblastic cells and in 2007 from humanfibroblasts and are characterized by high proliferative capacity and the capacity to differentiate
into any type of cell (pluripotency). A group from the University of Wisconsin once announced
that the efficiency of differentiation-induction from iPS cells was far lower than that fromembryonic stem cells (ESC). However, with technical improvements that have been achieved in ashort period of time by the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application, not less than 90% of
iPS cells now have differentiation capacity under induction.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology started the program“Highway Toward the Practical Use of Regenerative Medicine” in 2011. By using iPS cells
prepared from the cells of patients in cell transplantation, ethical problems as well as rejection can
be avoided. However, this practice has the disadvantage that it requires a huge amount of money
and time. That is why the concept of iPS cell banks (preparing and stocking cells from thespecimens of volunteers) has been developed, but the problem of transplant rejection remains.
Since rejection depends on individual differences in human leukocyte antigens (HLA), we intend
to build a cell bank of iPS cells prepared from the cells of HLA homo donors. The use of iPS cells
is not limited to regenerative medicine: there are attempts to utilize iPS cells in drug
discovery. For instance, in the development of atherapeutic drug for patients with amyotrophic lateralsclerosis (ALS), the iPS cells of patients are differentiatedinto motor neurons and used for screening new drugs.
Furthermore, in therapeutic drugs for heart disease, whichhave a drawback of long QT symptoms, it is underconsideration to differentiate iPS cells into cardiac cells
and use them for screening such adverse drug reactions toascertain the possibility of adverse drug reactions in an
early stage of drug development.
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• Modeling with Pluripotent Cells in Regenerative Medicine
Juan Carlos lzpisúa Belmonte (Center for Regenerative Medicine in Barcelona)
The Center for Regenerative Medicine in Barcelona, which is the largest research institution
for regenerative medicine in Spain, is studying the aging process of humans with iPS cells. HGPS,
which is one type of progeria, is caused by abnormalities in lamin A, a nuclear protein. In order toelucidate the mechanisms of aging, iPS cells were established from the skin fibroblasts of patientswith HGPS, differentiated into various types of cell, and used for analyzing the accumulation ofprogerin, a product of lamin A, and its effects. As a result, lamina A and progerin, which are
expressed in skin fibroblasts, were found to be inhibited by reprogramming, and the expression ofthem was hardly observed in iPS cells; the cells were in a normal condition. However, in thevascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) that were differentiated from the iPS cells, a high level ofprogerin was expressed, and the manifestation of aging, such as morphological defects and DNA
damage, was observed. The speaker and colleagues think that an experimental system in whichhuman aging can be observed in vitro in a short period of time can be established and are
currently studying the introduction into cells of genes in which mutation of lamin A is inhibitedwith the aim of curing HGPS.
5) Biological Resource & CBD/Nagoya Protocol
Moderated by Katsuhiko Ando (director, Biological Resource Center, National Institute ofTechnology and Evaluation [NITE])
Almost a year has passed since the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources andBenefit Sharing (ABS) was adopted at the 10th Conference of Parties (COP10) to the Convention
on Biological Diversity. At BioJapan 2010 held last year, while focusing on ABS, a wide variety
of topics that were directly related to the industrial world were discussed in order to convey thesituation immediately before COP10. This year, examples of utilizing overseas genetic resourceswere discussed, considering that the Nagoya Protocol has entered into force.

6. Business Partnering
Business partnering presentations were held as one of the means for achieving open innovation,
the largest objective of BioJapan. This year, 88 presentations were given by companies tointroduce their excellent new technologies and ideas. Individual meetings using the Web Matching
System were also actively held. The system is used to search for business seeds and alliancepartners and helps arrange meeting dates in accordance with the schedules of both parties on theweb. The number of meetings held in business meeting areas was 952 (336 on the first day, 341 on
the second day, 275 on the last day), and the total number of meetings including those held inindividual booths was approximately 2,000.

7. Alliance Promotion and the National Capital Region Bionetwork
Alliance promotion provides an opportunity for bioventurecompanies, in cooperation with bioclusters around Japan, tointroduce their core competences and business plans to the drug
industry in Japan and foreign countries. The promotion aims tohelp bioventure companies to form an alliance or make M&A
deals with pharmaceutical companies, initiate collaboration,and earn funding in order to accelerate commercialization.
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A total of 33 bioventure companies (7 companies in the drug discovery sector, 23 companies inthe sector of support for drug discovery, and 3 companies in the healthcare sector) around Japangave their presentations, including those in English, in 50 sessions. A total of 1,171 people
attended those sessions.
The National Capital Region Bionetwork was established as a part of the Industrial Cluster
Plan, and has engaged in various activities to help start and develop bioventure companies in
the greater Kanto region. Companies in the network collaborated to participate in the
exhibition to help expand the market, which is a burden for venture companies.
This year, a total of 21 companies, consisting of 6 companies in the drug discovery sector,
9 companies in the R&D instruments/reagents/services sector, 4 companies in the IT/
bioinformatics sector, 1 company in the environment/energy sector, and 1 company in thecontract research sector, participated in the exhibition.

8. Academic Seeds Presentations
These presentations are given to excellent or large
companies in Japan and foreign counties in order torapidly develop prominent technological seeds in major
universities and research institutes in Japan into
educational-industrial joint studies or technology
transfers. A total of 20 universities and institutes
presented the latest achievements in healthcare/drug
discovery, food, metabolomics, cleaning soil contaminated with radio-activity, bioenergy, biorefinery, biodevice, disease model organisms, etc. through a total of
51 sessions.
These participating universities andinstitutes also made full use of the Web
Matching System to actively hold individual meetings as opportunities to graspchances for biobusinesses including
introduction of technique, co-development,
collaborative research, and investment.

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9. Postscript
Although there were some effects from the Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred in
March, such as canceling participation from overseas countries, BioJapan 2011 was completedwith great success. We are grateful to the dedicated cooperation and support of many persons
including exhibitors, speakers, visitors, supporting government agencies/organizations, local
governments, and concerned personnel.
In particular, since large pharmaceutical companies exhibited alliance booths as in the lastyear in cooperation with the Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, a large numberof persons dealing with medical devices participated from Japan and foreign countries. This
year, the extent of business matching was widened from healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors
to medical devices, functional foods, cosmetics, and biofuels. Furthermore, the scale ofacademic seeds presentations was larger than those in the last year. After completion, many
participants reported achievements, indicating that this event helped gain a foothold in actual
alliance for collaborative research. Participation of medical universities involved inregenerative medicine made this event a solid platform for future industry-university alliancesby their presentations on their cutting-edge outcomes. In addition, the active exchange that
occurred among bioclusters all over Japan, biotechnology-related organizations, national andlocal government agencies, and corporate personnel have made BioJapan an intersection ofactivities for various persons related to biotechnology all over Japan.
These days, a further acceleration of open innovation is positioned as a key issue of Japan.
As before, JBA will confer with industry, academia, legislators, and bureaucrats about various
problems that bioscience and the biotechnology industry face. In doing so, JBA will focus on
making BioJapan effectively function and develop as an opportunity to grasp new businesschances related to biotechnology and dispatch information on excellent biotechnologies inJapan.
The next BioJapan2012 will be held from October 10 (Wednesday) to October 12 (Friday)
at Pacifico Yokohama under the title “New Era of Open Innovation in Asia” on the major
themes of life (healthcare/drug discovery, medical devices), functional foods, cosmetics, green(biorefinery, biomass plastics, environment, food), and bioclusters and venture businesses. You
can expect BioJapan as an opportunity to achieve open innovation.

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Organizer’s Seminars
in BioJapan 2011
In BioJapan 2011, JBA supported seminars on major themes of green (biorefinery,
biomass-based plastics, environment, food), life (healthcare/drug discovery, medical devices),and bioclusters and venture businesses.

1. Green Innovation Summit
Date: October 7, 2011 (Friday) 12:30 to 14:30
Moderator : Hideaki Yukawa (director, Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the
Earth [RITE], a Public Interest Incorporated Foundation)
Speakers : Kenji Fujiyoshi (chairman, Japan Chemical Industry Association)
Shigeki Suzuki (managing officer, Toyota Motor Corporation)
Colin Michinson (Genencor Biomass Applications director)
Steen Riisgaard (Novozymes A/S president and CEO)In an opening speech, Mr. Yukawa explained as follows:
Biofuels are in the phase of commercialization. From now on,
the world's attention will be focused on biochemicals. The
market size that the biorefinery plan assumes is estimated toreach approximately 230 billion dollars (approximately 20
trillion yen) in 2020, in which 67 billion dollars(approximately 6 trillion yen) will be bio chemicals.
Mr. Fujiyoshi mainly explained the commitment of theJapan Chemical Industry Association. In particular, todisprove the ungrounded notion that the chemical industry is a“dark industry”, he described the results of quantitativeevaluation of the amounts of exhaustible resources used andthe amounts of greenhouse gases (GHG) used throughout the
lifetime of chemicals and chemical synthesis products on thewhole by life cycle assessment (LCA) approaches. From theviewpoint of “avoided emissions” of GHG, he showed thecontribution of the chemical industry to reduce environmentalload compared to the inconveniences resulting from not supplying chemicals and chemical
synthesis products to the world. The GHG-reducing effects of heat insulating materials in theliving climate and the desalination of seawater with reverse osmotic membranes have beenshown to be extremely high. The speaker also explained the shift of raw materials to
nonedible biomass to reduce the use of exhaustible resources and the development of
biocatalysts with low environmental load.
Mr. Suzuki explained the commitment of Toyota Motor Corporation to achieving a green
society. The company aims to minimize the negative aspects (exhaust gas, accidents, etc.) of
automobiles and maximize the positive aspects (convenience, amenity, etc.) of them. The
company is committed to the commercialization and production of hybrid automobiles andmore evolved plug-in hybrid automobiles and electric automobiles as well as the greening ofinterior and exterior materials.
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In addition, the company has recently succeeded in the developmentof an extremely efficient biocatalyst to be used for producing biofuelsfrom herbaceous nonedible biomass. The company attracted attention
for its systematic effort to achieve zero emission of GHG bysystematic integration of housing/solar system and plug-in electricautomobiles in cooperation with a group company involved in
housing business.

Mr. C. Michinson explained the situation of the research and development of biocatalysts thatenable the production of biofuels on an industrial scale. On August 12, 1999, the U.S.
government announced its policies related to the development and wide-spread use of bio-based
products and bioenergy as one of the strategies for biotechnology for the 21st century.
In tandem, DuPont announced its basic plan for shifting its
chemicals/chemical synthesis products/polymers to bio-based
products. Ethanol, buhanol, succinic acid, 1,3-propanediol, isoprene,etc., have already been bio-processed, and the production of biofuelsand biopolymers (polybutylene succinate terephthalate, polytrimethylene terephthalate, polyisoprene, etc.) on an industrial scaleis reaching realization. In particular, the company plans to achieve
the production of a tire (“biotire”) using polyisoprene produced as abiosynthesized rubber in 2016, which will have an incalculable
impact on the industry.
Mr. S. Riisgaard explained the inevitability of shifting tobiorefinery and the role of enzyme catalysis, the technology forwhich company has an edge, in achieving the shift. The productionof ethanol derived from cellulose, to which the company iscommitted in various regions of the world, will presumably start in2012 in Europe, 2013 in North America and China, and in early2014 in South America. Behind the rapid development toward thecommercialization of fuels derived from nonedible biomass is anincreasingly active cooperation among companies and industries
forming value chains.

121. Life Innovation Summit(Partnerships among Pharmaceutical Companies,
Bioventures, and Academia in Asia)

Date: October 5, 2011 (Wednesday) 15:00 to 17:00
Moderator : Isao Teshirogi (president, Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association)
Speakers : Tatsumi Yamazaki (chairman of Steering Committee, JBA)
Greg Wiederrecht (vice president & head, Merck & Co. Inc.)
Hao Yan (president & CEO, EPS Corporation)
Jonghoon Choi (chief researcher, Korea Bio-Economy Research Center)In an opening speech, Mr. Teshirogi explained theobjectives of the seminar as follows: Globalization in recent
years means an alliance between academia and venturebusinesses, not among big companies. As the world
pharmaceutical market is growing by approximately 7% to 8%
a year, the market share of Japan, the United States, andEurope is declining while that of Asia is rising. The populationin Asia is predicted to grow explosively by 2050, which will
increase the demand for drugs in Asia. In the United States,
many drugs are originated from academic ventures.
Although it is acknowledged that Japan and Europe are competent in basic studies, they
are definitely behind in commercialization. It is meaningful to consider how we will be betterat drug discovery.
Mr. Yamazaki explained pharmaceutical development in
the future and JBA’s commitment as follows: As developments
are made in genome analyses and iPS cells, what is underdiscussion is what types of medical treatment will be practiced
in future. While new fields of treatment emerge, such as
regenerative medicine and vaccines, it is important to inhibit
unexpected side effects. Furthermore, in an age ofindividualized medicine, treatments are required to take the
QOL of individuals into account.
Not only therapeutic drugs but also diagnostic agents and medical devices need to be
integrated in one science. A new open innovation is required for that purpose. Thus, JBA haveparticipated in BIO-Asia, BIO-China, Global Bio&Medical Forum (Seoul), and Bio Taiwan totry to make use of Asian advantages for bio innovation. We planned to establish the “Councilof the Asian Bioindustry Associations”, an integrated council on the development of
bioindustry, whose members are Japan (JBA), Korea (KoreaBio), China (Beijing, Shanghai,CAS), and Taiwan (ITRI). The members contribute information on their own activities andintegrate knowledge and information.
Mr. Wiederrecht spoke of the importance of open
innovation in pharmaceutical development and alliance in the
future. Recently, the pharmaceutical market has shifted fromlow molecular weight pharmaceuticals to biopharmaceuticals,from industrialized countries to emerging countries, and frommegablockbusters to a wide range portfolio.

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While the U.S. economy slowed down and fell into single-digit growth rates since 2008, themarket size for biopharmaceuticals has become 2.5 times than that for biotechnological drugs.
Major pharmaceutical companies have begun various reforms, and the roles of pharmaceuticalcompanies, academia, and venture capitals are changing. As partnering becomes vigorous, many
companies are reducing research and development expenditure. Morgan Stanley reported thatformer “research and development” should be changed to “search and development.” Manycompanies changed their business models because introduction of compounds from outside thecompany is three times as efficient as research and development. However, Merck ismaintaining its research capacities exactly because good partners can be obtained.
In the past one century, innovation meant establishing large research institutes to develop
technologies and high-margin drugs and invest the profit earned therefrom into the next research.
However, in open innovation, knowledge is allowed to flow in and out on purpose to accelerate
inner innovation and expand outer markets. Outside professionals and outside research anddevelopment are utilized, while maintaining the company’s own research and development
capacities. Merck is strengthening its partnerships with universities and actively participating in
joint ventures.
Mr. Yan explained the activities of EPS Corporation as follows:
EPS started cooperation between Japan and China in the healthcare
industry three years ago. The company has been involved in clinicaldevelopment in Asian countries as of seven to eight years ago. Since
studies for the purpose of filing applications for marketing approval
are increasingly conducted in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, EPS Asia
Pacific was established in Shanghai as the headquarters for clinicalstudies conducted in the Asia-Pacific region. Japan still seems tohave an edge over China in the healthcare sector. EPS China wasestablished to start providing drugs and healthcare services because
Japanese products have not gained recognition in Chinese market.
Technologies are to be introduced from outside the company, andalliance with Chinese partners is needed for venturing in China
because China has the healthcare/insurance system and market
needs that are different from those in Japan. The company is making
a platform to accommodate funding from Chinese funds andgovernment measures for the promotion of biotechnology industry.
Mr. Choi spoke of changes in healthcare in Asia as follows: As the aging of society
progresses in the future, we need to establish a reliable healthcare system, but the systems in
Europe and the United States cannot directly be introduced in Asia. A cost effective healthcare
system is needed. That is where collaboration within Asia is possible and various technologies
must be introduced. We need a cost-effective healthcare system based on human genome
information. Since mutation is different from race to race, biotechnology revolution isincreasingly facilitated as human genome information increases. The biotechnology revolution
will occur when the cost of sequencing a total genome becomes 1,000 dollars or less. The
collaboration for the next generation healthcare system in Asia is based on genome informationof Asians and is aimed at a cost-effective system. Japan and Korea can contribute technologies
and capital, and China can contribute market. Since Asians have many cultural and racialsimilarities, collaboration might as well be focused on the development of regionally specifichealthcare.

143. Cluster Summit(Global Collaboration among Bioclusters)

Date: October 6, 2011 (Thursday) 9:30 to 11:30
Moderator : Tsuneaki Sakata (visiting professor, Osaka University)
Speakers : Ulf Aberg (Denmark: senior business development manager, Invest in Skane)
Karimah es Sabar (Canada: SVP Business & Strategic Affairs, Center for Drug
Research and Development)
Andy Gearing (State of Victoria, Australia: CEO, Biocomm Squared)
Mario Pennisi (State of Queensland, Australia: CEO, Life Science Queensland
Limited)Takashi Miki (Bureau director general, City of Kobe)
Yoshifumi Ikeda (Bio Project producer, Kurume Research Park Co. Ltd.)In reference to four bioclusters in foreign countries and Kobe and Kurume, the present state,method, and issues of cooperation between bioclusters and the industry in Japan were explained.
Mr. Aberg spoke of Medicon Valley (MV) located on the borderof Denmark and Sweden. With a sufficiently large ambient
population of 3.5 million, the region plays the role of “gateway
port” to the European market of 500 million people for Japanesecompanies. In recent years, since Takeda Pharmaceutical Company
Limited bought Danish Pharma and Nycomed, the relationship withJapanese companies has increased. The region accommodates six
large pharmaceutical companies and has an edge in diabetes, obesity,
neuroscience, etc. The number of Danish biotechnology companies
are increasing, and approximately 160 Danish companies are locatedhere today. The number of development pipelines in this country
ranks third in Europe, and the country exports a large amount ofpharmaceutical products. MV is an optimum window for Japanesecompanies to establish local subsidiaries, start collaborative
businesses in Europe, establish a hub for FS, gain information on thebasic studies conducted in local universities, introduce drugcandidates, and perform M&A with local companies.
Ms. Sabar explained how the Center for Drug Research and Development (CDRD), a uniqueorganization that support academic drug discovery, works. It is an open-innovation-type
nonprofit government-private organization established about five years ago. The organization
supports the development of seeds that are expected to be commercially successful by suchmeans as subsidizing POC study research fund. When drug discovery with CDRD was
successful, the project is then transferred to CDRD-Venture Inc. to start commercial
development in cooperation with venture businesses etc. The CDRD has collaborationagreements with excellent universities and research institutes in many countries as strategic
partners. In Japan, the CDRD has an alliance with the University of Tokyo TLO. On average, the
CDRD is capable of spending 18.5 million dollars per project. The spending is originally fundedby large pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Roche, and theprovincial government of British Columbia. The center has a support infrastructure
corresponding to pharmacology, toxicity, medicinal chemistry, and pharmaceutical preparation.
Taking advantage of the cooperation with a large number of organizations in foreign countries,
the CDRD helps development in cooperation with brains around the world.
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Mr. Gearing explained the strength of Australia inbiotechnology, which is backed by the thriving Australianeconomy. Australia has a history of more than 100 years of
research and development, 9 universities, and 15 laboratories.
Australia has completed the deployment of large-scale devices
such as NMR and the formation of a clinical trials network.
Available funds include angels within the wealthy populationand venture capital firms. The country has a wide scope ofexperience in bio-venture, research and development bypharmaceuticalcompanies,businessdevelopment,
management, and marketing and can provide services such as
various consultation, finance, and technology evaluation. The
activities of CSIRO (the Commonwealth Scientific andIndustrial Research Organisation) have so far been successful,and CSIRO has a translation budget of about a billion dollars,
including investments from the commercial sectors.
Mr. Pennisi explained the Queensland Clinical Trials Network (QCTN) for supporting
clinical trials and Life Science Queensland, a new organization involved in the field ofbiotechnology, such as agriculture. The QCTN was established in 2005 and now has over 100
member companies. Japanese companies attempting to expand to Europe and the UnitedStates with a new drug can conduct bridge studies on the QCTN and file an application in
Europe and the U.S. Based on the success of the QCTN, Life Science Queensland wasestablished in 2011 in order to expand the activities of the QCTN from the medical field to all
fields related to biotechnology, such as agriculture.
Mr. Miki explained the status of the rapidly developing
Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster. The cluster was
established as a part of the millennium project in the 1990s
and has rapidly been growing since 2003. The cluster is home
to 11 core facilities, including the International Medical
Device Alliance, and over 200 healthcare companies. The
construction of the next generation super computer “K” in thecluster was decided in 2007, and the computer is scheduled tostart operation in the spring of 2012. In the cluster, 4,400
people are employed, and 203 companies are located. To
contribute to Asia in the field of measures to address the aging
of society, the cluster, centering around the city of Kobe, aims
to be the No. 1 biomedical cluster in Asia.
Mr. Ikeda explained the 10 years of the history of Kurume Research Park since its opening
as well as its active commitment to collaboration with overseas organizations. MOU has
already been concluded between the research park and Korea, China, and Australia. What wasdifficult with MOU with Australia was the difference in the regulatory system. For example,
there is a distinction between a physician-initiated clinical study and a clinical study
sponsored by a company in Japan. In the cluster, 2,782 people are employed, and 63
companies are located. The number increased by 70% in 10 years. As achievements, 64
products have been commercialized, a budget of 5.6 billion yen was acquired, and one
company went public (IPD). In the future, the research park will correct the overdependence
on drug discovery and focus its efforts on biomass, biotools, medical devices, and functional
foods.
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