University-industry collaboration in drug discovery in Japan: An empirical analysis over thirty years

摘要

With respect to the pharmaceutical industry, university-industry (U-I) collaboration in drug discovery has played an important role in industrial innovation because drug discovery research is closely linked with basic science performed in academic institutions. In this study, we collected comprehensive data on cases of U-I collaboration in drug discovery in Japan over the last 30 years. We found that there were significantly fewer cases of drug discovery involving U-I collaboration than cases of in-house drug discovery. U-I collaboration in drug discovery was most active in Japan in the 1980s, but its activity level has declined in recent years. We also found that the companies involved in U-I collaborations were typically those with limited pharmaceutical research capability. The percentage of projects related to biologics among those involving U-I collaboration was higher than the percentage among in-house drug discovery projects. The distribution of targeted disease application revealed that U-I collaboration has been used to compensate for the lack of in-house research capability. Several academic researchers who participated in drug discovery projects involving U-I collaboration demonstrated strong research performances. Our findings serve as a basis for discussion regarding the future direction of U-I collaboration in drug discovery in Japan.