Open Innovation

Navigating the fast-evolving landscape of science and technology presents a significant challenge for any single company to carry out the entire drug discovery process independently, while also integrating every emerging technology. By forging collaborations to gain access to new insights and technologies, we have built a unique drug discovery ecosystem. This collaborative approach allows us to pursue more innovative avenues in drug discovery.

To rapidly integrate emerging insights and technologies into our drug discovery initiatives, we proactively pursue partnerships with academia, startups, and venture companies. Our objective is to establish a next-generation drug discovery value chain that merges our expertise with the innovative technologies provided by our partners. Through these collaborations, we aim to create a synergistic effect where the collective impact is exponentially greater than the sum of individual efforts—an approach that turns the idea of 1+1 into 10.

Addressing Undruggable Targets

We are focusing on developing medications for targets that were previously considered undruggable, those not addressed by conventional small molecule approaches. To achieve this, we are adopting new modalities in our drug discovery processes.

Our research facilities are located at Nagoya University, an institution renowned for its Nobel laureates and its leading role in scientific research. By harnessing RaQualia Pharma's expertise alongside the university's cutting-edge science and multidisciplinary technologies, we drive our innovative drug discovery programs forward. This synergy significantly enhances the benefits of our industry-academia collaboration. Together, we deepen our understanding of diseases and carry out comprehensive experiments to establish connections between drug discovery targets and diseases.

Additionally, our partnership with Nagoya University’s School of Medicine accelerates our research, allowing for a seamless progression from basic research into clinical settings. This collaboration plays a crucial role in our mission to develop new medications that address the genuine needs of healthcare professionals and patients. To further strengthen our industry-academia collaborations, we are expanding our joint research efforts beyond Nagoya University to include institutions both within and outside Japan. These partnerships are essential for tapping into the collective expertise and insights of the global research community.

In April 2018, we inaugurated the first industry-academia collaborative research center at Nagoya University. This initiative consolidated the previously separate three departments—the Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (RIeM), the Graduate School of Medicine, and the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences—and restructured them into two unified departments within RIeM. This consolidation has fostered a more cohesive approach to research and collaboration.