Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited, a Japan-based holding company mainly engaged in the manufacture and sale of pharmaceuticals, announced details of the application for its 'Take a New Challenge for Drug Discovery (TaNeDS) Europe 2015/2016', a collaborative drug discovery initiative for universities and research institutes in Europe.

The TaNeDS programme was launched in Japan in 2011 to help discover new lines of research through open innovation. From 2013 it expanded abroad, opening up to researchers in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, becoming known as the TaNeDS Global Programme, and in 2014, it expanded further across Europe to include all EU member countries. This year the programme was renamed “TaNeDS Europe,” and the aim of this programme is realizing Daiichi Sankyo’s corporate slogan of “Passion for Innovation. Compassion for Patients” through increasing collaborative opportunities with researchers in Europe. U3 Pharma GmbH (headquarters: Munich, Germany; hereafter, U3 Pharma), a wholly owned subsidiary of Daiichi Sankyo, is also participating in the programme in order to nurture the seeds of drug discovery for the next generation.

Countries where research could be conducted are all EU member countries plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

Daiichi Sankyo seeks innovative technological research collaborators for novel drug discovery and testing projects that could result in novel drug discovery and novel new drugs.

Research themes are 1) cardiovascular and metabolic disorders---new mechanisms and drug treatments for obesity, kidney and renovascular-related disorders, 2) cancer---new targeted and investigative research for small-molecule and biologic treatments (antibody drugs, etc., 3) other disorders---new mechanisms and drug treatments for sensory neuronal systems in vision/hearing loss, immune dysfunction, fibrosis, muscle atrophy, anaemia and genetic disorders, new drug treatments for pain, genetic analysis and new drug research for rare/serious diseases, 4) revolutionary drug discovery technology---novel target molecules and delivery systems for nucleic acid treatments, and new biologic technology.

The budget of research is up to 80,000 euros or 150,000 euros (plus overhead) per year for collaborative research projects lasting up to 2 years.

Those who are eligible for the project are researchers of any nationality employed by universities, research institutes and start-up companies within the EU, as well as Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, who can conduct research in those countries on projects that match Daiichi Sankyo’s desired research themes.

Daiichi Sankyo and U3 Pharma researchers will select research projects that match their research needs as well as demonstrate originality, potential and promise as drug discovery candidates.

The interested researchers can apply for it from December 1, 2015 to January 15, 2016. The first shortlist selection will take place from mid-January to mid-February 2016, followed by second shortlist selection period--mid- February 2016 to early March 2016. On-site visit interview will be held in April, 2016. Notification of final decisions will be issued early-May 2016. The research programmes will start from June, 2016.

The application process for 2014 resulted in 2 projects being selected out of 40 applications and those collaborations are currently underway.

The subjects of two selected proposals are Biologics and Structure-Based Drug Design. The principal investigators are affiliated with the Heidelberg Institute for Stem Cell Technology and Experimental Medicine in Germany and the University of Groningen in Netherlands respectively.