TOKYO, July 26, 2018 -- Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (TOKYO: 4519) announced today that it has decided to expand the business of Chugai Pharmabody Research Pte. Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “CPR”), its research subsidiary in Singapore.

This decision has been made aiming to further improve drug discovery capabilities of the Chugai Group, in which the operation period of CPR is to be extended for another five years with an investment of 282 million Singapore dollars (SGD) from 2022 to 2026. CPR was established in 2012 to conduct research focused on the discovery of novel antibody drugs by utilizing innovative antibody engineering technologies owned by Chugai. The operation period of CPR was initially planned to be five years until 2016, and then extended for five additional years. An investment of 476 million SGD is planned to be made for 10 years from 2012 to 2021.

“Chugai Group’s drug discovery approach has successfully generated new breakthrough drugs including “ACTEMRA^®” and “HEMLIBRA^®” by utilizing our proprietary advantage including antibody engineering technologies,” said Executive Vice President in charge of Research and Translational Clinical Research, Dr. Hisafumi Okabe. “We seek to accelerate creation of drug candidates with the next-generation antibody technologies by combining expertise of our three research laboratories, CPR, Kamakura Research Laboratories, and Fuji Gotemba Research Laboratories, toward continuous creation of innovation in the future.”

At CPR, researchers with various nationalities and expertise are dedicated to creating innovative antibody drug candidates in a prompt and efficient manner with the use of proprietary antibody engineering technologies of the Chugai Group. They are also committed to developing new technologies for continuously creating antibody engineering projects. With a total investment of 244 million SGD since 2012, CPR has successfully contributed to the creation of SKY 59 and other antibody drug candidates as well as maximizing the value of Chugai’s antibody engineering technologies.

As a leading company in biopharmaceutical medicines in Japan, Chugai will further strengthen its drug discovery technology platform in order to create pharmaceutical products that address unmet medical needs for the benefit of the medical community and human health around the world.

Trademarks used or mentioned in this release are protected by law.

[Profile of CPR and Planned Business Investment]

About Chugai

Chugai Pharmaceutical is one of Japan’s leading research-based pharmaceutical companies with strengths in biotechnology products. Chugai, based in Tokyo, specializes in prescription pharmaceuticals and is listed on the 1st section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. As an important member of the Roche Group, Chugai is actively involved in R&D activities in Japan and abroad. Specifically, Chugai is working to develop innovative products which may satisfy the unmet medical needs, mainly focusing on the oncology area.
In Japan, Chugai’s research facilities in Gotemba and Kamakura are collaborating to develop new pharmaceuticals and laboratories in Ukima are conducting research for technology development for industrial production. Overseas, Chugai Pharmabody Research based in Singapore is engaged in research focusing on the generation of novel antibody drugs by utilizing Chugai’s proprietary innovative antibody engineering technologies. Chugai Pharma USA and Chugai Pharma Europe are engaged in clinical development activities in the United States and Europe.
The consolidated revenue in 2017 of Chugai totaled 534.2 billion yen and the operating income was 103.2 billion yen (IFRS Core basis).
Additional information is available on the internet at https://www.chugai-pharm.co.jp/english.