Drug Discovery Capabilities

Advancing drug discovery for future breakthroughs 

Researchers at Astellas use pipettes in the lab, supporting early-stage drug discovery and the development of promising new therapies.
Researchers at Astellas use pipettes in the lab, supporting early-stage drug discovery and the development of promising new therapies.

Astellas is at the forefront of innovation – pioneering cutting-edge technologies and developing proprietary platforms specifically designed to identify promising drug candidates and develop them into valuable assets. Our unwavering commitment empowers us to tackle unmet medical needs and drive advancements in healthcare. 

Drug Discovery Platform 

We are focused on developing a state-of-the-art research environment with the latest technologies and proprietary research platforms. By leveraging them, our team of researchers are actively pursuing new targets and drug candidates with the goal to expedite the creation of new drugs and the enhance the probability of success. 


Our key initiatives include: 

 

  • Mahol-A-Ba: An experimental system that combines a robot, an operating system for experiment equipment, and AI to enable remote, automated cell-culture and assessment 
  • ‘Human-in-the-Loop’ drug discovery platform: An integrated system that leverages AI and robotics in the process of identifying drug candidates, incorporating researcher perspectives as necessary 

Recent stories

The Future of Drug Discovery: Integrating Human, AI and Robotics

Behind the Scenes of Drug Discovery—Empowering employees to pursue a breakthrough

Translational Research 

Astellas is also building capabilities in the field of translational research, which helps to convert the findings in non-clinical studies into clinical outcomes in humans. This approach accelerates the drug discovery process and increases the probability of success. 


Our key initiatives include: 

 

  • Microphysiological systems: Complex in vitro models designed to capture human pathophysiology for improved assessment of the efficacy and safety of drug candidates in humans 
Diagram illustrating drug candidate evolution and the use of microphysiological systems to improve efficacy and safety predictions in humans.

Quantitative Systems Pharmacology (QSP): A mathematical modeling approach that integrates biological mechanisms to predict drug responses in humans 

Diagram showing QSP modeling and simulation used to compare measured data and predict clinical outcomes of drug candidates.

Research Publications 

Please click below to learn more about recent research activities.

  • Nishibata T, Weng J, Omori K, Sato Y, Nakazawa T, Suzuki T, Yamada T, Nakajo I, Kinugasa F, Türeci Ö, Şahin U, Yoshida T. Effect of anti-claudin 18.2 monoclonal antibody zolbetuximab alone or combined with chemotherapy or programmed cell death-1 blockade in syngeneic and xenograft gastric cancer models. J Pharmacol Sci. 2024 Jul;155(3):84-93. doi: 10.1016/j.jphs.2024.04.004. 

  • Nishibata T, Amino N, Tanaka-Kado R, Tsujimoto S, Kawashima T, Konagai S, Suzuki T, Takeuchi M. Blockade of EP4 by ASP7657 modulates myeloid cell differentiation in vivo and enhances the antitumor effect of radiotherapy. Biomed Res Int. 2023 Nov 28;2023:7133726. doi: 10.1155/2023/7133726. 

  • Tsuzuki H, Kawase T, Nakazawa T, Mori M, Yoshida T. Anti-tumor effect of antibody drug conjugate ASP1235 targeting fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 with venetoclax plus azacitidine in an acute myeloid leukemia xenograft mouse model. Oncotarget. 2022 Dec 20;13:1359-1368. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.28331. 

  • Tasaki M, Yamashita M, Arai Y, Nakamura T, Nakao S. IL-7 coupled with IL-12 increases intratumoral T cell clonality, leading to complete regression of non-immunogenic tumors. Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2021 Dec;70(12):3557-3571. doi: 10.1007/s00262-021-02947-y. 
  • Shirasuna K, Koelsch G, Seidel-Dugan C, Salmeron A, Steiner P, Winston WM, Brodkin HR, Nirschl CJ, Abbott S, Kinugasa F, Sugahara S, Ohori M, Takeuchi M, Hicklin DJ, Yoshida T. Characterization of ASP8374, a fully-human, antagonistic anti-TIGIT monoclonal antibody. Cancer Treat Res Commun. 2021;28:100433. doi: 10.1016/j.ctarc.2021.100433. 
  • Yamashita M, Tasaki M, Murakami R, Arai Y, Nakamura T, Nakao S. Oncolytic vaccinia virus induces a novel phenotype of CD8+ effector T cells characterized by high ICOS expression. Mol Ther Oncolytics. 2021 Feb 4;20:422-432. doi: 10.1016/j.omto.2021.01.016. 
  • Bertera S, Knoll MF, Knoll C, Hara H, Kimbrel EA, Kouris NA, Lanza R, Philips BE, Garciafigueroa Y, Giannoukakis N, Cooper DKC, Trucco M, Bottino R. Human hemangioblast-derived mesenchymal stem cells promote islet engraftment in a minimal islet mass transplantation model in mice. Front Med (Lausanne). 2021 Apr 15;8:660877. 

  • Nakao S, Arai Y, Tasaki M, Yamashita M, Murakami R, Kawase T, Amino N, Nakatake M, Kurosaki H, Mori M, Takeuchi M, Nakamura T. Intratumoral expression of IL-7 and IL-12 using an oncolytic virus increases systemic sensitivity to immune checkpoint blockade. Sci Transl Med. 2020 Jan 15;12(526):eaax7992. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aax7992. 
  • Kimbrel EA, Lanza R. Next generation stem cells – ushering in a new era of cell-based therapies. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2020 Jul;19(7):463-479.