Priority Disease Areas

With a focus on the Psychiatry & Neurology and Oncology as priority disease areas, Sumitomo Pharma Group will contribute to the betterment of healthcare and fuller lives of people worldwide through diverse approaches, including pharmaceutical products, regenerative medicine/cell therapy, and non-pharmaceutical solutions.

Our approach to the two priority disease areas and other areas

The Group aims to establish itself as a “Global Specialized Player” by 2033. With a focus on the Psychiatry & Neurology and Oncology disease areas, where unmet medical needs are high, we will make the utmost of the experience and knowledge that we have acquired so far to continue making active efforts for research and development of pharmaceuticals, regenerative medicine/cell therapy, non-pharmaceutical products, and otherwise. In other areas, too, we will tap into assets at hand and make steady R&D efforts to deliver solid value to patients. With regard to drug discovery research, we will forge ahead with our translational research and biomarker research and develop modality technologies to further strengthen our highly unique foundation for drug discovery. In addition, we will propel data-driven drug discovery to continuously create candidate compounds that focus on the essence of clinical conditions.

Small molecule Molecular design/synthesis based on accumulated experience/know-how Regenerative medicine/ cell therapy Know-how acquired by pioneering initiatives Non-pharmaceutical(Frontier) To be developed in the mental resilience area Other modalities Pursuit of optimal modalities ☓ Psychiatry & Neurology Area Oncology Area Other Areas *Womens health issues, urological diseases, diabetes, rare diseases, infectious diseases

Psychiatry and Neurology Area

【Small molecule】
We promote competitive drug discovery research based on our proprietary drug discovery platform, which we have built up by incorporating cutting-edge technologies. In the area of psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, depression, and peripheral symptoms of neurological disorders, we aim to create breakthrough therapeutic drugs that satisfy unmet medical needs through drug discovery based on neural circuit pathology. In the area of neurological disorders, including dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and rare diseases, we aim to create disease modifying therapies for neurodegenerative diseases by focusing on abnormal cell functions. We also use insights gained from clinical data of products and development assets in translational research to select appropriate drug discovery targets and biomarkers from big data, such as genome information, EEG, and imaging, thereby improving the probability of R&D success.
In FY2017, we introduced a new Research Project System, under which researchers who have devised project themes take the lead in their projects up to the initial clinical development stage as a general rule.

【Regenerative medicine/cell therapy】
In a bid to become the first in the world to commercialize iPS cells and realize game-changing treatments, we are steadily moving forward with preparation for an application for approval in Japan and a Phase 1/2 clinical study in the U.S. of allogeneic iPS cell-derived dopaminergic neural progenitor cells for Parkinson’s disease. we are also making steady efforts to push on with a Phase 1/2 clinical study of allogeneic iPS cell-derived retinal pigment epithelial cells for retinal pigment epithelium tear in Japan.

Oncology Area

Through our R&D activities to date, we have gained a variety of knowledge, strengthened our drug discovery capabilities, and created multiple development pipelines with distinctive features. Making use of these achievements, we continue to focus on research and development in the area of oncology, where there are high unmet medical needs.

In drug discovery, we aim to create innovative new drugs by enhancing our competitiveness through the development of modalities using our new technologies as well as initiatives, such as joint research with academia.

In the development stage, we aim to improve the probability of success by carefully evaluating data from short-term, small-scale studies to identify optimum cancer types and product value for multiple development pipelines undergoing initial clinical evaluation. In particular, we are concentrating our resources on nuvisertib (TP-3654) and enzomenib (DSP-5336), aiming for obtaining early approval and maximizing their value.

Other Areas

We tap into assets at hand and make steady R&D efforts to deliver solid value to patients.

  • For GEMTESA®, we make efforts to pursue a Phase 3 clinical study and prepare an application for approval for overactive bladder in China.
  • To contribute to global health and pandemic preparedness, we are promoting research and development of a universal influenza vaccine and a drug for antimicrobial resistant bacterial infections.