For Immediate Release
Company name: DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, LIMITED
Representative: Sunao Manabe, Representative Director, President and CEO
(Code no.: 4568, First Section, Tokyo Stock Exchange)
Please address inquiries to Junichi Onuma,
Vice President, Corporate Communications Department
Telephone: +81-3-6225-1126
https://www.daiichisankyo.com
Daiichi Sankyo Selected for AMED’s “Development of vaccines for the novel coronavirus disease (Second Round)”
TOKYO, Japan (August 31, 2020) – Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited (hereinafter, Daiichi Sankyo) today announced that it was selected by the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (hereinafter, AMED) to be a company for the AMED’s Drug Discovery Support Program “Development of vaccines for the novel coronavirus disease (Second Round)” with respect to Daiichi Sankyo’s genetic (mRNA) vaccine (hereinafter, DS-5670) for the novel corona virus infection (hereinafter, COVID-19).
DS-5670 is a gene (mRNA) vaccine for COVID-19 using a novel nucleic acid delivery technology discovered by Daiichi Sankyo. As one of the company’s top-priority projects, Daiichi Sankyo will proceed with preparations for the start of clinical studies around March 2021 in collaboration with the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Medical Science. Through its support of this project, Daiichi Sankyo will accelerate the development of the DS-5670 in order to bring it to health care professionals and the people of Japan as soon as possible.
Daiichi Sankyo will proactively continue efforts to establish prevention and treatment methods for COVID-19, which has become an urgent social need.
About the AMED’s Drug Discovery Support Program “Development of vaccines for the novel coronavirus disease”
The project aims to support the development of a vaccine against COVID-19, for which R&D is already underway, and aims to ensure the early commercialization of safe and effective vaccines.
About Daiichi Sankyo
Daiichi Sankyo Group is dedicated to the creation and supply of innovative pharmaceutical therapies to improve standards of care and address diversified, unmet medical needs of people globally by leveraging our world-class science and technology. With more than 100 years of scientific expertise and a presence in more than 20 countries, Daiichi Sankyo and its 15,000 employees around the world draw upon a rich legacy of innovation and a robust pipeline of promising new medicines to help people. In addition to a strong portfolio of medicines for cardiovascular diseases, under the Group’s 2025 Vision to become a “Global Pharma Innovator with Competitive Advantage in Oncology,” Daiichi Sankyo is primarily focused on providing novel therapies in oncology, as well as other research areas centered around rare diseases and immune disorders. For more information, please visit: www.daiichisankyo.com.