Joint Venture company established for incubation of early drug discovery programs
Investment from Takeda, Astellas and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking
Ciconia Bioventures has announced its establishment as a joint venture company based on a master agreement signed on April 22, 2024 by Takeda Pharmaceutical, Astellas Pharma, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.
Ciconia seamlessly covers the entire process from early drug discovery research to establishment of biotech startups, with the aim of translating innovative technologies and drug discovery programs originating in Japan into clinical applications.
Leveraging a wide range of promising drug discovery seeds from Japanese academia, biotech startups, and pharmaceutical companies, the company will focus on formulating development strategies and acquiring new data to enhance the value of these seeds, transforming them into high-potential assets with a greater likelihood of success.
The company will also integrate additional R&D funding and experienced management teams to launch new innovative startups, increasing the number of successful biotech ventures emerging from Japan.
To achieve these goals of advancing innovative drug discovery programs primarily originating from Japan into the global pharmaceutical market, incubating globally competitive drug discovery technology, and fostering entrepreneurship, Ciconia's incubation activities will be carried out in collaboration with academia, biotechnology ventures, and pharmaceutical companies across Japan, in a shared effort to unleash the potential of drug discovery ecosystem for the world.