In addition to outsourcing global services, Japanese laboratories also provide services such as bioanalysis services.
First of all, please tell us about your company's business.
As a Japanese subsidiary of the Farmalon Group, a global CRO (Pharmaceutical Development Contract Organization), we mainly provide brokerage services to clients in Japan, and also provide bioanalysis services at Japanese laboratories.
What was the reason for you to work on this project?
In the first place, the Farmaron Group has become a global CRO for clients in Europe and the United States, but there is no local base in Japan, and it was necessary to make inquiries in English via the global website. Therefore, with the aim of expanding the Japanese market, we launched Far Marron Japan at the end of 2020 to expand our business by setting up a laboratory with our local subsidiaries.
I am the representative of Far Maron Japan and also the so-called lab head of the research department. Previously, he was a member of Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., and has been involved in research for many years in the previous clinical research department. After that, as a research manager, he has been in charge of drug dynamics and biological sample analysis. When setting up the lab, I wanted to provide services from my research field, which is my strength.
In addition to global economies of scale, we are able to provide top-level services even in our own areas of expertise.
What are the main domestic services you are currently working on?
Our main service is a service that provides biological samples such as blood and urine after drugs have been administered to animals and humans in preclinical and clinical trials, and then measure blood concentration of drugs.
In some clinical trials, biomarkers such as proteins and genes that fluctuate by administering drugs are often quantify at the same time as drugs, and they also support those services. Because data reliability is essential for applications for pharmaceutical development, we are applying for approval of a global bioanalysis site and Harmony Practice (GLP) conformance facility, which is a benchmark for reliability standards.
What do you think are the strengths of Far Maron Japan?
Although there are CRO in Japan, there are still rare institutions that have laboratories in Japan on global CRO. We have about 21 laboratories, mainly in Asia, Europe and the United States, and have a total of over 20,000 staff members. We are engaged in commercial production as well as research and development, and we can respond to most of the drug modalities that have been diversifying in recent years within the group.
By providing global services to clients in a wider range of fields, Far Marron Japan can provide global services to clients in a wider range of fields, and of course, we can provide top-level services to global clients in areas where Far Marron Japan is good at. In particular, I myself have a lot of experience in developing proteins and antibody drugs, so I think there is an advantage in bioanalysis and pharmaceuticals such as antibodies and drugs.
Today, most of the heads of global sites are head-hunted from lab heads of mega-pharma lab heads. Our strength is that it is easy for clients from multiple pharmaceutical companies, including me, and it is easy for clients to grasp CROs and project needs.
Mitsui Fudosan has become interested in launching a new business that supports research innovation.
How did you move into Mitsui Link Lab Shinkiba 1?
When the company was launched, I rented only an office in Mitsui Fudosan's Nihonbashi Life Science Building 7 in Ningyocho. I wanted to carefully examine the lab, so even after the company was launched, I had a look at various rental labs. One of them is Mitsui Link Lab Shinkiba 1……However, at that time it was still a vacant lot before construction (laughs). Probably, our company was the first ride of the tenants or the next.
Where was the decisive factor that chose the newly built Mitsui Link Lab Shinkiba 1 instead of the existing lab where you can see and check the current situation while you were looking for it?
First of all, Mitsui Fudosan became interested in starting a new business to "support research innovation" initiative. In addition, I felt the strength of a major real estate company, where access and location are very suitable for research facilities. We believe that if Mitsui Fudosan has been working on so far, we can expect a support system.
The conditions required for our lab were extremely harsh, such as securing sufficient space and BSL2-compatible facilities, but Mitsui Link Lab Shin-Kiba 1 had an environment in which it could be achieved. As a support system, when something needs arises, they listen carefully to this story and consider what to do seriously. And the know-how gained there is also being utilized in Mitsui Link Lab Shin-Kiba 2 and 3, which will be opened in the future. We have made many requests for improvement so far, but in that sense we may be contributors to evolution of this lab facility. (Laughs).
I hope that Mitsui Link Lab Shinkiba will create a "research city where research institutes gather and create new innovations" can be created.
What do you expect from Mitsui Link Lab in the future?
I hope Shinkiba will create a "new research city where research institutions from all over the world gather." Mitsui Link Lab Shinkiba 2 and 3 will increase from now on, and it will be a stimulating opportunity to interact with various research institutions beyond the facilities, and expectations for innovation will be generated. If more companies have laboratories in Shinkiba, on the contrary, we will be able to hold events that are more prone to innovation, focusing on areas related to each business.
In my case, I've been working for a company for a long time, and the only stimulation was to interact with other departments, but here we come together with experts from all fields. I feel that there is a different world here than before.
That's also come from all over the world, not just in Japan.
Well, Shinkiba is also a fairly attractive location for global companies as well. It takes about 30 minutes by taxi from Haneda Airport and much closer to Tokyo Station. In fact, it was an important point for us to welcome people from Europe, the United States, and China. Not only that, but also the bases of major transportation companies are also gathered and the delivery is smooth, and access to medical institutions in the city center.
I think it is an area with potential, so in the future there will be hotels and commercial facilities that can be used by research institutes from all over the world, and after meeting with visitors in the lab, you can easily go to a little dinner after having a meeting with visitors in the lab.……We are looking forward to the development of the scale that Mitsui Fudosan can do.