Three large Japanese firms are forming a joint venture to jumpstart drug research in their home country and stem a recent decline in the development of innovative medicines there.

三家大型日本公司正在组建一家合资企业，以启动本国的药物研究，并遏制近期创新药物开发的下滑。

On Monday, Takeda Pharmaceutical, Astellas Pharma and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking announced they’ve signed a deal to establish the as-yet unnamed joint venture, which will be tasked with incubating early drug discovery programs, primarily from Japan, and turning them into new therapies.

周一，武田制药（Takeda Pharmaceutical）、阿斯特拉斯制药（Astellas Pharma）和三井住友银行（Sumitomo Mitsui Banking）宣布，他们已签署协议，成立这家尚未命名的合资企业，其任务是孵化主要来自日本的早期药物发现项目，并将其转化为新疗法。

The new firm will be initially funded with about 600 million yen, or roughly $3.9 million. Takeda and Astellas will each own 33.4% of its shares, with Sumitomo holding the remaining 33.2%. It’ll be led by pharmaceutical veteran Toshio Fujimoto, the founding CEO of iPark Institute, a Takeda spinout. The joint venture will be located at Shohan Health Innovation Park, which iPark manages and houses some 150 companies, including drug startups..

新公司最初将获得约6亿日元（约合390万美元）的资金支持。武田和阿斯特拉斯将各自拥有33.4%的股份，住友则持有其余33.2%的股份。它将由制药老手藤本俊雄领导，藤本俊雄是武田派生公司iPark Institute的创始首席执行官。该合资公司将位于Shohan Health Innovation Park，由iPark管理并拥有约150家公司，其中包括制药初创公司。。

In starting the joint venture, Takeda, Astellas and Sumitomo hope to advance academic research in Japan. Though the country is one of the world’s leaders in drug discovery, in recent years it has struggled to churn out new drugs and startup companies. This has posed a “major challenge” in realizing the potential of technologies and “seed assets” originating in Japan, the companies said in a statement..

在成立合资公司时，武田、阿斯特拉斯和住友希望推进日本的学术研究。尽管该国是世界上药物发现的领导者之一，但近年来它一直在努力生产新药和创办公司。两家公司在一份声明中表示，这对实现源自日本的技术和“种子资产”的潜力提出了“重大挑战”。。

For instance, a February report from contract research and consulting firm Iqvia found that the number trials started by Japanese companies declined from 501 in 2013 to 244 a decade later. Over that time, Japan’s share of clinical trial starts fell from 11% to 4%. The country also launched only 20 new medicines in 2023, the lowest total since 2014 and behind the U.S.

例如，合同研究和咨询公司Iqvia 2月份的一份报告发现，日本公司开始的试验数量从2013年的501次下降到10年后的244次。在此期间，日本的临床试验开始份额从11%下降到4%。2023年，该国仅推出了20种新药，是2014年以来最低的，仅次于美国。

and other major markets, Iqvia said..

和其他主要市场，伊克维亚说。。

The joint venture was formed as a response to those types of trends. Though the companies didn’t provide many specific details, they noted the venture will cover “the entire drug discovery process” by incubating early research in Japan and helping form “high caliber” startup companies around it. Takeda and Astellas will provide support as well, they said..

合资企业的成立是为了应对这些趋势。尽管两家公司没有提供太多具体细节，但他们指出，该合资企业将通过在日本孵化早期研究并帮助围绕其组建“高素质”初创公司来涵盖“整个药物发现过程”。他们表示，武田和阿斯特拉斯也将提供支持。。

Takeda, Astellas and Sumitomo expect “a swift launch of the new incubation activities” once all of the details are finalized, they said. The joint venture is expected to launch in the middle of the year, according to the statement.

武田、阿斯特拉斯和住友预计，一旦所有细节最终确定，将“迅速启动新的孵化活动”。声明称，该合资企业预计将于年中投产。