Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Otsuka) and Axcelead Drug Discovery Partners Co., Ltd. (Axcelead) announce collaborative drug discovery research that will utilize the Axcelead Hit-identified Target (A-HiT) project in the area of central nervous system (CNS) diseases.

The two companies will jointly conduct lead generation and lead optimization research using candidates derived from the A-HiT project for drug discovery targets related to specific CNS diseases. The expectation is that the collaboration will expand Otsuka's R&D pipeline.

Axcelead is the first comprehensive integrated drug discovery solutions provider in the pharmaceutical industry in Japan, having succeeded some portion of the drug discovery research department of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. Axcelead commenced business in July 2017.

About Axcelead https://www.axcelead.com/en/