OSAKA -- Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd. said Wednesday it will build a new laboratory in Osaka devoted to developing innovative drugs based on its research into the human genome.
The lab will be completed in February 2005 at a cost of 17 billion yen, the company said.
As researchers get closer to sequencing an entire strand of human DNA, major drugmakers are scrambling to put this knowledge to use in developing efficient drugs to cure a range of diseases. Takeda said it hopes the new lab will put it at the forefront and bolster its international competitiveness.
The lab will also serve as a chemical-compound library for classifying and storing a range of substances being developed as potentially useful drugs based on genome research by Takeda's researchers, it said.
The company hopes the lab will speed the process of developing new drugs and enhance its research capabilities. Takeda is expected to become the first Japanese chemical maker to chalk up over 1 trillion yen in annual consolidated sales in fiscal 2001. Its annual research expenses amount to 100 billion yen.