May 30, 2018

Notice Regarding Establishment of Immune-mediatedInflammatory Diseases Consortium for Drug
Development
Start of collaborative/competitive drug discovery research by threeacademic institutions and three pharmaceutical companies
Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation (President & Representative Director:
Masayuki Mitsuka; Head Office: Chuo-ku, Osaka) announced the establishment ofthe Immune-mediated Inflammatory Diseases Consortium for Drug Development.
In addition to Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, the consortium was established by Keio
University (President: Akira Haseyama; Location: Minato-ku, Tokyo), Kochi
University (President: Katsutoshi Sakurai; Location: Nankoku-shi, Kochi Prefecture),
National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition (Director General:Yoshihiro Yoneda, Location: Ibaraki City, Osaka), Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
(President, Representative Director, and CEO: Gyo Sagara; Head Office: Chuo-ku,Osaka), and Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. (Representative Director, President and COO:
Sunao Manabe; Head Office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo). The purpose of the consortium isthe implementation of drug discovery research targeting immune-mediatedinflammatory diseases.
In recent years, data obtained through the use of leading-edge technology toanalyze clinical specimens has been used in drug discovery research with theobjective of improvement/complete remission of immune-mediated inflammatory
diseases. However, due to limitations on the collection of clinical specimens for
immune-mediated inflammatory diseases and to further increases in researchexpenses, in the future it will be more difficult to efficiently develop new drugs with
only the conventional model of one-to-one academic-industry collaboration.
The consortium will work to overcome these challenges. To that end, Keio UniversityHospital’s Rheumatology Department and Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Department and Kochi Medical School Hospital’s Center for Intractable Immune
Disease will collect clinical specimens and related information, before and aftertreatment, from patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. At theNational Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition, these clinicalspecimens will undergo detailed and comprehensive analyses, including gene

expression profiling. A high-quality database will be constructed based on the data
accumulated by the consortium, and this database will be shared by the academic
institutions and the pharmaceutical companies. Individual pharmaceutical company
will utilize this database and conduct independent drug discovery research forimmune-mediated inflammatory diseases. The academic institutions will utilize theoutcome for further basic and applied research. In this way, the consortium will beoperated in accordance with a unique new concept for academic-industrialpartnership.
In the Medium-Term Management Plan 16-20 Open Up the Future, Mitsubishi
Tanabe Pharma has positioned autoimmune diseases as one of its priority diseaseareas. By implementing drug discovery research through this consortium, Mitsubishi
Tanabe Pharma expects to be able to accelerate the enhancement of its pipeline in
the field of autoimmune diseases and to provide new treatment options to patientsand health-care professionals.
Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation
Corporate Communications Department
Media contacts: TEL:+81 6 6205 5119
Investor contacts: TEL:+81 6 6205 5110