[A capability to promote the utilization of human samples for improving the ‍clinical response predictability in the...

An issue in drug discovery research at pharmaceutical companies is the decline in the probability of market launch, and there is a need to improve the proof-of-concept (POC) acquisition rate by further improving clinical predictability. For this purpose, we need to deepen our understanding of human pathophysiology, and to make efficient of drug discovery research by utilizing human samples and data due to the change in mindset from "animals" to "humans" at the drug discovery research stage. In particular, with the aim of improving the efficiency of drug discovery research by utilizing human samples/data, we have established a human sample utilization support capability, then we are supporting the acquisition of appropriate human samples/data to meet each drug research need with collecting information on organizations that can provide various human samples and accumulating know-how on obtaining human samples/data. In addition, we have built a one-stop support system for surveying human samples/data, negotiating, and contracting with the organizations, obtaining ethical committee approvals, importing samples, and dealing with customs clearance. As results, our researchers can obtain high-quality human samples/data to meet their research needs rapidly/easily. By establishing this capability, the number of the research projects that implement target validation, pharmacological evaluation, BM identification, and patient stratification, etc. using human samples/data from the early stage of drug discovery, has increased, and then, the evidence obtained by using human samples/data contribute to create drug candidates with high probability of clinical effect. We will introduce our activities while showing the support flow that was actually constructed.