The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has selected the University of Tokyo, Hokkaido University, and Osaka University as domestic vaccine development bases in preparation for the next infectious disease pandemic.Reflecting on the fact that Japan fell far behind the United States and Britain in the development of a new coronavirus vaccine and had no choice but to rely on products from overseas pharmaceutical companies, the government will establish a system that will enable the rapid development of domestically produced vaccines and therapeutic drugs in the event of an emergency.
According to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the base development will proceed based on the national strategy decided by the Cabinet in 2021, and investment will be made from a fund of 515 billion yen established by the government for a maximum of 10 years.Each base will continue basic research and applied research in cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, and will also train vaccine and virus researchers.
The University of Tokyo was selected as the flagship center to play a leading role as the core, and the Center for Next Generation Infectious Diseases was established, and Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a world-renowned virus researcher and specially appointed professor at the Institute of Medical Science, was appointed as the center director. .Hokkaido University, Chiba University, Osaka University, and Nagasaki University were selected as synergy centers that will create new research results in collaboration with flagship centers.
The Central Institute for Experimental Animals, Shiga University of Medical Science, National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition, Kyoto University, RIKEN, and the University of Tokyo have been selected as support organizations for the development, immunization, and genome analysis of experimental animals.
At the beginning of the spread of the new coronavirus, the government had strong hopes for the development of a domestically produced virus, but development fell behind the United States and Britain, resulting in the country relying on imported vaccines.