- Fitness Services are planned for launch in 2020 -
TOKYO, June 5, 2020 - Astellas Pharma Inc. (Tokyo, President and CEO: Kenji Yasukawa, Ph.D., “Astellas”) developed science-based exercise programs in cooperation with the City of Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture (Kanagawa, Mayor: Fumiko Hayashi, "City of Yokohama”) and Yokohama City University (Kanagawa, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees and CEO: Yoshiyuki Futami, “YCU”).
Exercise therapy is reported to be beneficial to patients with type 2 diabetes, and the Japanese Clinical Practice Guidelines for Diabetes 2019 issued by the Japan Diabetes Society indicates that “exercise therapy consisting of aerobic exercise, resistance exercise, or combination of the two improves blood glucose control and risk factors for cardiovascular disease in patients with type 2 diabetes.” Therefore, there was a need for the development of scientific evidence to support the specific instruction of effective exercise therapies by way of detailed exercise programs and implementation methods for diabetes patients or how to implement them.
Astellas has been aiming to develop science-based exercise programs for exercise therapies for patients with type 2 diabetes by combining Astellas’ strength cultivated through its ethical pharmaceutical business practices, and technology and knowledge from different fields through industry-government-academia collaboration with City of Yokohama and YCU. We have designed an exercise program combining aerobic exercise with resistance exercise (repetitive exercises that exert resistance on target muscles) and confirmed the clinical utility of this exercise program in improving blood glucose control in a medical and health research conducted in Japan (an exercise intervention study with a control group).
In the development of this exercise program, Astellas was responsible for designing the exercise program, in addition to planning and implementing the medical and health research. Yasuo Terauchi, Professor, Association of Medical Science Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Yokohama City University participated in this program upon introduction by the Life Innovation Platform YOKOHAMA (LIP. Yokohama1) as a medical and health research expert essential to development.
Astellas plans to make these science-based exercise programs available through fitness clubs starting with limited areas in Japan in 2020.
Astellas will continue to pursue the creation of societies where people can live mentally and physically healthy lives and be true to themselves, by creating and providing evidence-based healthcare solutions through the integration of medicine and exercise.
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