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LONDON & OSAKA, Japan

Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Takeda) today announced a major research collaboration that aims to define new insights and develop novel therapies in gastroenterology.

Gastrointestinal (GI) diseases and disorders in humans are poorly understood and inadequately treated. QMUL’s Neurogastroenterology Group aims to understand the neuromuscular control of GI function, with an emphasis on brain-gut interactions and GI motility. The focus of the research alliance announced today will be GI sensory and motor mechanisms underlying functional bowel disorders and GI motility disorders.

The collaboration will leverage the best science from both partners, including QMUL’s School of Medicine and Dentistry which has world-leading translational research facilities and expertise in gastroenterology, which will speed innovative drug discovery and development of new therapeutic approaches.

Takeda’s GI Drug Discovery Unit will work closely with experts from the School of Medicine and Dentistry’s Neurogastroenterology and Immunology groups on several areas of research, including identifying novel therapeutic targets and researching the effect of compounds with novel mechanisms of action in established QMUL translational assays. QMUL researchers Professors Gareth Sanger and Ashley Blackshaw, Dr. David Bulmer and Dr. Andrew Stagg will collaborate in this three-year research program.

“Takeda’s GI Drug Discovery Unit is a highly specialized research team that works collaboratively with academic and industry partners, as well as other Takeda teams, in a research approach that seeks and partners with the deepest scientific expertise in the gastroenterology field, wherever it may be,” said Gareth A. Hicks, Ph.D., Head of Takeda’s GI Drug Discovery Unit. “This agile approach maximizes our chances of succeeding in our mission to provide new medicines for the treatment of GI disorders in patients with high unmet medical need. We are excited to work with researchers at QMUL, who have a proven track record for collaborative delivery of deep scientific insight into GI disease mechanisms.”

Notes to Editors

About Queen Mary University of London

Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) is one of the UK’s leading universities, and one of the largest institutions in the University of London, with 20,260 students from more than 150 countries.

A member of the Russell Group, we work across the humanities and social sciences, medicine and dentistry, and science and engineering, with inspirational teaching directly informed by our research – in the most recent national assessment of the quality of research, we were placed ninth in the UK (REF 2014).

We also offer something no other university can: a stunning self-contained residential campus in London’s East End. As well as our home at Mile End, we have campuses at Whitechapel, Charterhouse Square and West Smithfield dedicated to the study of medicine, and a base for legal studies at Lincoln’s Inn Fields.

We have a rich history in London with roots in Europe’s first public hospital, St Barts; England’s first medical school, The London; one of the first colleges to provide higher education to women, Westfield College; and the Victorian philanthropic project, the People’s Palace based at Mile End.

QMUL has an annual turnover of £350m, a research income worth £100m, and generates employment and output worth £700m to the UK economy each year.

About Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited

Located in Osaka, Japan, Takeda is a research-based global company with its main focus on pharmaceuticals. As the largest pharmaceutical company in Japan and one of the global leaders of the industry, Takeda is committed to strive towards better health for people worldwide through leading innovation in medicine. Additional information about Takeda is available through its corporate website, www.takeda.com.