December 13, 2023
In-Vivo Science, Inc.
Axcelead Drug Discovery Partners, Inc.
In-Vivo Science and Axcelead DDP Entered into Cooperative Agreement for Drug
Discovery Services Using Disease Model Animals
In-Vivo Science, Inc. (Headquarters: Meguro-ku, Tokyo; Branch Office: Kawasaki City, Kanagawa
Prefecture; President: Koji Yoshimura; hereinafter “In-Vivo Science”) and Axcelead Drug
Discovery Partners, Inc. (Headquarters: Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture; President & CEO:
Nobuhiko Yamada; hereinafter “Axcelead DDP”) announce that we have now entered into a
cooperative agreement for drug discovery services using disease model animals.
In-Vivo Science globally supplies a wide range of disease model animals including NOG mice* andhumanized mice, developed based on technology by the Central Institute for Experimental
Animals (hereinafter, “CIEA”), and possesses know-how and information on experiments basedon CIEAʼs abundant experience and technology. Axcelead DDP employs more than 200
researchers experienced in drug discovery and provides drug discovery services pharmacologicalevaluation for various modalities and diseases to a variety of drug discovery players such as
pharmaceutical companies, bio-ventures, and academia.
Under this agreement, the cooperation between In-Vivo Science, with a wealth of information
including know-how and practical knowledge on experiments using disease model animals, andAxcelead DDP, with outstanding technology regarding drug discovery using disease model
animals, will be able to provide more robust in vivo evaluations that meet our customer needs
more quickly. This agreement will also allow Axcelead DDP to gain expertise and technology
concerning the characteristics and construction of humanized mouse models from In-Vivo Scienceand further enhance its capability for constructing disease model animals.
Koji Yoshimura, President of In-Vivo Science, said “This cooperation will enable the abundanttalents of Axcelead DDP, a drug discovery solution provider, and its technical excellence to merge
with In-Vivo Scienceʼs know-how and information obtained based on the experience of CIEA
researchers, and I expect this collaboration will bring a major transformation in the researchusing severely immunodeficient mice, especially humanized mice. Iʼm really excited for Axcelead
DDP to be able to widely conduct research studies using NOG and other mice that require specificknowledge.”Masayuki Ii, PhD, CSO of Axcelead DDP, said “Iʼm delighted that weʼll be able to cooperate indrug discovery services with In-Vivo Science, which provides a variety of high-quality diseasemodel animals as well as having extensive experience and information related to experiments.
The development of drug candidates using disease model animals that can be highly extrapolated
to humans is expected to expedite drug discovery and lead to improvements in the probability ofsuccess. We at Axcelead DDP will continue to contribute to the creation of innovative new drugs
while responding to the diverse needs of drug discovery players.”*NOG mice: A strain of mice developed by interbreeding a NOD-scid mouse with an IL-2 receptor γ-chain (acommon domain of several cytokine receptors) knockout mouse. With a significantly high rate of engraftment of
human tissues when compared with that of NOD-scid mice, NOG mice are widely used for animal models in drug
discovery, such as tumor-bearing mouse models and humanized immune system mouse models.

About In-Vivo ScienceIn-Vivo Science was established in 2006 to provide "severely immunodeficient NOG mice,
genetically modified next-generation NOG mice, and humanized mice (hereinafter referred to as
NOG-related mice)" developed by the Central Institute for Experimental Animals. In-Vivo Science
supports our customers to achieve better research outcomes with NOG-related mice along withinformation, including experimental know-how.
https://www.invivoscience.com/en/index.html
About Axcelead DDP
Axcelead DDP is the first integrated drug discovery solutions provider in the pharmaceuticalindustry in Japan, having succeeded the drug discovery research capabilities of Takeda
Pharmaceutical Company Limited and started its business in July, 2017. The company provides
integrated services, from discovery of drug targets to optimization of small- and mediummolecule drug candidates, in which the company has particular expertise, and to the process ofbridging the gap to clinical development. For more information, please visit
https://www.axcelead.com/en/