January 4, 2022 (CAMBRIDGE, MA) – Astellas Pharma Inc., partnering with the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio®), will host an Astellas Pharma Day on February 8, 2022. The global pharmaceutical company is looking to meet with innovative academics and entrepreneurs, including early-stage biotechs that are focused on breakthroughs in oncology, immuno-science, mitochondrial biology, and regeneration and reprogramming. Astellas is working to expand its outreach and strengthen collaboration by directly connecting with potential partners across the life sciences innovation ecosystem by highlighting its R&D strategy and therapeutic areas of interest.
“At Astellas, we believe external partnerships and collaboration are key to the future pipeline successes for Astellas,” explains Mike Luther, Head of Early Stage Partnering for Astellas. “We are constantly searching for innovative science and partners that have the potential to improve the lives of patients. We make available Astellas’ global expertise and end to end resources to our partners, so that together we can successfully develop new medicines. We are confident by working together we can accelerate the development of breakthrough treatments for the patients who need them. Having a partner like MassBio allows us to access and interact with the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders, scientists, and companies that we need to accelerate our efforts to discover and develop new therapeutics.”
Innovators with drug candidates or technology in the therapeutic areas listed above who are actively looking for licensing and partnering opportunities are encouraged to apply for one-on-one meetings with Astellas representatives by January 7, 2022 at midnight. For more details on Astellas areas of interest for R&D partnering, please visit https://www.astellas.com/en/partnering.
“A core piece of MassBio’s mission is finding ways to connect entrepreneurs and startups with established life sciences companies,” said Kendalle Burlin O’Connell, President and COO, MassBio. Pharma Days provide an opportunity for biopharma companies like Astellas to engage with early-stage institutions they otherwise might not have had a chance to. I look forward to seeing how Astellas will leverage the partnerships born from our upcoming Pharma Day to address the world’s most complicated unmet medical needs.”
Astellas will host an open information session and networking reception at the MassBioHub on February 8 at 3:30pm. This event will focus on Astellas’ partnering capabilities, platforms, and expertise and will be led by Hide Goto, Ph.D., President, Astellas Institute for Regenerative Medicine; Michael Luther, Ph.D., MBA, Head of Early Stage Partnering, Astellas; Michael Patane, Ph.D., President, Mitobridge; Mat Pletcher, Ph.D., Division Head of Astellas Gene Therapies; and Joanna Stanicka, Ph.D., CEO and Founder, AXONIS Therapeutics Inc. To register for this event, please visit the MassBio website.
MassBio’s Pharma Days® provide unparalleled opportunities for emerging innovators to learn from and connect with world-leading biopharmaceutical companies. Since 2010, MassBio has facilitated more than 1,000 connections between emerging entrepreneurs and established biopharmaceutical companies through Pharma Days® and other partnering initiatives.
MassBio is taking all appropriate precautions while also closely monitoring the latest public health guidance on COVID-19. Accordingly, all attendees for this event are required to be fully vaccinated.