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Japan’s Thriving Research Scene

Scientist on February 14, 2023

Since establishing a Japanese subsidiary in 2018, we have dedicated much time and effort into expanding our supplier network within Japan. Over four years later, we are now thrilled to announce that we have 56 Japan-based suppliers on our platform. If you have not had the opportunity to explore our Japanese supplier network, continue reading to get to know a few of them, their missions and their product and service offerings.


Axcelead Drug Discovery Partners

Axcelead Drug Discovery Partners is an integrated solutions provider in drug discovery and non-clinical research. They are uniquely positioned, having carved out a Preclinical R&D Discovery Unit from Takeda Pharmaceuticals. They preserved the talent, the tools, the Pharma Library and Legacy Data right under the same roof. Their scientific team is pioneering disruptive and differentiated discovery solutions for diseases with high unmet needs. Axcelead’s integrated solution spans the drug discovery continuum from early-stage exploration studies to candidate optimization and even a bridge process to clinical development. For example, their hit identification service using pharma origin, huge, high-quality and diverse library has more than 600 cases for multiple target classes with more than 90% hit rates. In the stage of lead generation/optimization, if your target of interest is in our legacy data, you can obtain a powerful jump start toward candidate selection with Axcelead. Legacy data, deep knowledge and extensive experience of the target has enabled generation of a high-quality candidate in the shortest approach. Their exceptional discovery engine improves success rates for your drug discovery campaigns.


Carna Biosciences

Carna Biosciences, a biotechnology company focusing on kinases as the important targets for the development of drugs to treat a variety of diseases, including cancer, inflammation and neurological disorders, offers a wide range of kinase protein products all developed and manufactured in-house and assay services with extensive kinase targets for your research and development. Their biochemical assay services deliver highly reproducible quality data by employing only in-house produced kinases, which have passed a stringent QC, while conducting experiments under the thoroughly managed assay system by skilled hands. Their cell-based assays, which investigate a compounds’ binding activities, generate reliable data utilizing the well-established Promega’s NanoBRETTM technology. In addition to these kinase products and services, their rich experience, deep knowledge and know-how in drug discovery targeting kinases will give you unparalleled support that will surely help accelerate your drug discovery. If you are engaged in kinase inhibitor research and development, Carna Biosciences will be your best support partner.


LSI Medience

Drug development services are one of their major businesses at LSI Medience Group. They provide comprehensive services from non-clinical to clinical stages based on experience and knowledge accumulated through laboratory insight.

LSIM Safety Institute (“LSSI”), as a group company of LSI Medience, conducts various in vitro and in vivo studies including pharmacological, pharmacokinetic and toxicology studies at GLP facilities (also certified by AAALAC International). In addition to these testing services, LSSI provides consultation for non-clinical study design and data evaluation, medical writing services for application documents to regulatory authorities and laboratory technique educational training.

In the stage of clinical development, they provide bioanalysis services and central laboratory services. Their GLP facilities provide advanced analytical technology in the field of special testing such as biomarker and drug concentration analysis. Their expertise supports studies ranging from method development, validation and all the way to actual analysis. Their state-of-art analytical platform and large library of validated analytical methods respond to new modalities.


Mitsui Knowledge Industry

MITSUI KNOWLEDGE INDUSTRY CO., LTD. (MKI) provides comprehensive bioinformatics services to public research institutes, universities and pharmaceutical companies. MKI now offers a contract analysis service for nucleic acid analysis from LC-MS data using its self-developed software “AQXeNA”. The advantage of using “AQXeNA” is that it enables the analysis of detailed internal structures of nucleic acid sequences and modified nucleic acids. In addition, it also supports long nucleic acid sequences of several thousand bases. The information from such analyses is required for drug discovery and R&D of nucleic acid medicine as well as mRNA vaccines. If you are interested in or have any concerns about nucleic acid analysis using LC-MS data, please contact them.


SMC Laboratories, Inc.

SMC Laboratories, Inc. is a pre-clinical CRO (Contract Research Organization) founded in 2014 with a mission to accelerate drug research and development through their focused fibrosis and inflammatory expertise.

They have supported over 800 pharmaceutical companies, bio-ventures and academics from over 30 countries with cutting-edge research and pharmacology studies using their mouse models specialized for inflammation and fibrosis, including liver disease (NASH, NAFLD, Cirrhosis, HCC, ALF), lung disease (IPF, COPD, ARDS), kidney disease, Inflammatory bowel disease, skin disease and cancer. In particular, their unique NASH-liver cancer model (STAM model) is a mouse model with high clinical correlation - 15 compounds tested in the model having progressed to clinical trials.

SMC Laboratories, Inc. takes pride in their ability to respond to the requirements of their clients. With expertise in this field and an experienced staff, they work closely with clients to design tailored studies that can generate high-quality results as quickly as possible.

SMC Laboratories, Inc. is located in Tokyo, Japan, and its key operating subsidiary is located in Los Angeles, California. For more information on SMC Laboratories Inc. please visit smccro-lab.com.


As our global network of contract research organizations continues to expand, so does our ability to connect researchers with cutting edge research services and products. Regardless of where you might be, the United States, the European Union or wherever, you can still outsource your research needs to any of our Japanese suppliers. Check out our Contract Research Map to explore all of our global suppliers, Japan included! Our mission is to help carry out Faster Science everywhere, and through our Japanese expansion, we are one step closer to achieving that.

If you are a Japanese supplier or are interested in sourcing from one of our Japan suppliers, please contact our Customer Success Japan Lead, Ryosuke Ishigami.