Kyoto University
Graduate School of Medicine
Medical Innovation Center

Through rapid advances in medicine and fusion of basic and clinical medicine we can now talk on diseases and pathologies in molecular terms. Creation of new health care is the mission of medicine. Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine has established Kyoto University Medical Innovation Center (MIC) where we integrate our medical research with drug discovery technology of pharmaceutical companies to promote the study of human diseases and create innovative therapeutics. MIC conducts the institution-level collaboration on a one-to-one basis with a company in a specific disease area. In such collaboration, we utilize accurate information of patients, analyze clinical samples, both available through the university hospital, on various technologies, and link discovery of basic principles of living organisms that is a tradition at the Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine with human disease mechanisms. Through these activities, we aim to identify drug targets that are truly useful in clinical practice. We also produce new drugs, including biologics, using our own phenotypic screening systems. MIC also conducts searches for biomarkers, patient segmentation, and, in collaboration with Kyoto University Translational Research Center, “proof of concept” first-in-human trials of drugs in development. Through intensive collaboration with a company and based on newly discovered disease mechanisms, MIC thus promotes creation of “first-in-class” innovative drugs that successfully address unmet medical needs.