Employee Introduction
Drug discovery research has a low success rate.
The path toward achieving goals is arduous.
For these reasons, one must have the will to perform tasks to their completion.
Researcher (research and synthesis)
2006—Entered the Company after completing studies at a graduate school of science
My mission is to discover revolutionary new chemical compounds at the forefront of drug development.
I developed asthma when I was a young child and always needed to take medicine. This was one reason that I began to feel the vague ambition of wanting to work in the field of medical care, a field which many people appreciate. As I went on to high school and university, I became interested in organic synthetic chemistry. I wanted to utilize this knowledge to contribute to medical treatment and began to aspire to enter the pharmaceutical industry.
The medicine my grandfather has taken provided one impetus for my joining the Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation. My grandfather told me that the drug “worked very well and really helped him feel relief.” It turned out that the medicine was actually an antihypertensive drug from Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma. I truly began to feel that Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma is a company making medicine that patients greatly appreciate, which is one large reason I decided to join.
Since I entered the Company, I have been engaged in research regarding the synthesis of new drugs and the synthesis and design of chemical compounds that may hold possibilities for new medicine.
I start with hit compounds that I obtained through high throughput screening (HTS), optimize their structures by using organic synthetic chemistry, and make them into lead compounds (chemical compounds that later become drug ingredients). After this, I transform these lead compounds into development candidates (chemical compounds with the potential to become medicine). In many cases, various issues arise during this process, such as in vitro and in vivo activation, pharmacokinetics and toxicity. Overcoming these many obstacles to create development candidates is my greatest mission. In order to properly complete this mission, it is extremely important that chemical compounds that I have designed and synthesized are evaluated so that it can be determined if they have surmounted potential issues. This is why I conduct my research while collaborating with researchers from the Modality, DMPK Research Laboratories (Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics) and the Safety Research Laboratories.
My department is the only one in the Company that involves researching, synthesizing and creating chemical compounds. These chemical compounds that we make lead to innovative new drugs that contribute to the health of patients throughout the world. The path toward creating these compounds isn’t at all easy, but that is why I feel such great satisfaction in doing this job, which is teeming with fascination.
The development of new drugs involves teamwork and progresses slowly, over many years.
What must I accomplish during these projects?
One chemical compound produced through a project for which I assumed responsibility became a development candidate. We faced many difficult procedures during this project, such as evaluations regarding in vivo activation, pharmacokinetics and toxicity. However, we were able to discover a development candidate in a comparatively short period of time because we had predicted facing these procedures and optimized the chemical compound beforehand. Since creating development candidates is one goal of my research, I keenly felt a strong sense of job satisfaction from this project. Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma holds a poster session-style academic conference each year in which research results are announced, and I was very encouraged by the honor of being able to receive an award at this event.
After development candidates are discovered in this way, various evaluations primarily concerning safety are conducted to determine the propriety of clinical trials. In order for these evaluations to proceed quickly, our synthesis unit must synthesize and stably supply large quantities of the chemical compounds up for testing. Synthesizing such a large quantity of chemical compounds was a first for me. We needed to discuss many things, including the synthesizing method to be used and compliance related to the dangerous substances used during synthesis. I felt a different sense of achievement when we were somehow able to supply the chemical compound according to schedule.
I feel that most fruits of the research I conducted when I was a student, no matter if they were themes or results, were largely due to personal effort. However, at a company, researchers from various fields proceed with their research by combining their abilities, with all members seeking results. For this reason, it goes without saying that I need to demonstrate my abilities as much as possible, but it is also important that I collaborate with those around me. This is why I engage in projects while regularly thinking about what I need to accomplish.
Even when pouring all of my ability into my research like this, things usually do not proceed as expected. The success rate of drug development research is particularly low. Despite this, we must passionately conduct our research, being careful not to forget, even for a moment, about the patients who are eagerly awaiting new medicine.
My own research will produce innovative new drugs.
I have a dream that I want to achieve no matter what it takes.
Currently, I have been tasked with leading a project that aims to develop new drugs targeting diseases that are presently untreatable. In this challenging assignment, my biggest mission is to deepen our drug discovery capability and deliver true value for patients through success of the project.
I still cannot forget the training video I saw as a new employee. It was a video of a patient who had been given some of Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma’s medicine. The patient, who had been unable to walk, became able to walk home during the same day as a result of taking the medicine. I remember how joyful the patient looked and the immense, moving impact the video had on me. My dream is to create these kinds of new drugs at Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, no matter what it takes.
- Career step
- 2006 Researcher conducting medicinal chemical research in the fields of metabolism, kidneys and immune inflammation
Currently engaging in project promotion in the Research and Synthesis Department, which specializes in the field of immune inflammation
* The affiliation and description in the article are those at the time of interview.
