December 18, 2019
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Daiichi Sankyo announced that it has decided to gratuitously transfer 110,000 domestic clinical isolates accumulated in levofloxacin (LVFX) susceptibility tests to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID).

LVFX susceptibility tests were conducted 10 times in total on a continuing basis from 1994 to 2016, for the purpose of testing the susceptibility of domestic clinical isolates to LVFX and other antibacterial drugs to understand how they are resistant to drugs. During this period, we analyzed a total of 110,000 clinical isolates, containing 15 bacterial species and 12 bacterial genera, collected from 100 facilities nationwide. Meanwhile, in order to find better ways to efficiently utilize the bacterial strains accumulated and store them, the company had a discussion with the Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Toho University (Professor Kazuhiro Tateda; who concurrently serves as President of The Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases), the NIID, and the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED). Professor Tateda led the LVFX susceptibility tests. As a result of the discussion, Daiichi Sankyo agreed with the other parties to transfer the bacterial strains to the NIID, which will preserve and manage them at the Antimicrobial Resistance Bacteria Bank of the Institute’s Antimicrobial Resistance Research Center so that the bacterial strains can be broadly utilized for antimicrobial resistance research. This initiative is in accord with the actions to “Promote the preservation of isolates and the creation of an ‘isolates bank’ that is accessible to industry, academia and government” included in Strategy 5.1 of the National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) formulated in 2016. With the effective use of these bacterial strains, further progress is expected in worldwide efforts to elucidate AMR ecosystem and research on its occurrence and propagation.

The parties, considering how they can let domestic research institutes broadly use the bacterial strains transferred, will announce a detailed plan at a later date. Information on this transfer is also announced on the websites of Toho University, the NIID, and the AMED.

Toho University

National Institute of Infectious Diseases

Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development

Commemorative photo of the contract handing ceremony (from right: Professor Kazuhiro Tateda, Faculty of Medicine, Toho University; Miyuki Arai, Corporate Officer, Daiichi Sankyo; Shoji Miyagawa, Manager, Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development; Takaji Wakita, Director General, National Institute of Infectious Diseases; Kento Wada, Vice President, Post Marketing Study Department, Daiichi Sankyo; Motoyuki Sugai, Director, Antimicrobial Resistance Research Center, National Institute of Infectious Diseases)