Astellas, Daiichi Sankyo and Takeda to study biomarkers

Japanese pharmaceutical firms Astellas, Daiichi Sankyo and Takeda have joined forces to create a comprehensive database of biomarkers from healthy adults.

Each company will collect and analyse biomarker data from healthy volunteers, pooling this for comparison with patients taking part in preclinical and clinical research.

The patient data will come from Astellas, Daiichi Sankyo and Takeda clinical studies that use protein and metabolite biomarkers that will be carried out at their respective research bases in Japan.

In a joint statement, the three companies said they intend to publicise the resulting analysis, commenting that “fundamental biomarker data from healthy adults … has not been sufficiently accumulated globally” to date.

They hope that the research collaboration will subsequently accelerate the development of innovative new medicines, particularly in Japan but also worldwide.

The collection of the data samples will be overseen by Dr Thomas Hankemeier in association with a local CRO at Leiden University in the Netherlands.

Biomarkers are naturally occurring characteristics formed from ordinary biological, pathological or physiological processes and which can be objectively measured to document pharmacological responses to therapeutic intervention.

Biomarker collaborations have become increasingly common in the industry, with AstraZeneca's new drug discovery genomics consortium also planning to publish its findings. 

Similarly in 2015 Genentech partnered with 23andMe to analyse genomic data for Parkinson's disease. 

Meanwhile, at a regulatory level, the EMA's recent draft Alzheimer's disease research guidelines looks at the need for biomarkers.