Approach for innovation

Providing life-changing value to people, Kyowa Kirin keeps on taking on the challenge of building a platform for the creation of innovative new drugs by making full use of its proprietary antibody technologies and other diverse drug discovery technologies while utilizing the disease science we have cultivated to date.

The distinguished fundamental technologies of Kyowa Kirin are characterized by POTELLIGENT^® and human-antibody producing mice (human artificial chromosome vector) technologies which we successfully established, and contribute to efficient production of therapeutic antibodies.

We will continue to focus on R&D investments for further growth, such as aiming to enter clinical trials for therapeutic antibodies incorporating our proprietary bispecific antibody technology, Regulgent^TM.

Making the most of our knowledge and experience in protein and antibody engineering technology as well as in control of glycosylation, we are engaged in research and development of advanced therapeutic antibodies.

Orchard Therapeutics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kyowa Kirin, is a global gene therapy leader with experience successfully developing and commercializing medicines for rare diseases. We are engaged in hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy (HSC-GT) mainly through Orchard Therapeutics. HSC-GT is expected to correct the underlying cause of disease with a single treatment.

Furthermore, we are also developing new treatments by combining HSC-GT with the drug discovery technologies and know-how that Kyowa Kirin has cultivated to date.

In our laboratories, we look for new ways to harness natural mechanisms of the body’s immune response. Our expertise in antibody discovery and development has fueled new patents, development programs, and the creation of effective medicines for patients. And it has been at the forefront of key industry advancements, including the ability to safely and reliably reproduce fully human monoclonal antibodies that precisely eliminate target cells that cause disease.

Antigens are the molecules that trigger an immune response, such as to bacteria and viruses. Antibodies are created by the immune system and play a key role in protecting the body from foreign pathogens. They are derived from the terminal differentiation of B cells - which then become plasma cells. Antibodies may be found on the surface of B cells (surface immunoglobulins), where they serve as antigen receptors (BCR); or they may be secreted into the extracellular space, where they can bind and neutralize their target antigens.^*1,*2Antibodies also vary in how long they persist. They can be short- or long-lived, depending on origin in the body and cellular memory.^*3