Astellas, MBC BioLabs Offer Sixth Future Innovator Prize

Japan’s Astellas Pharma is again collaborating with MBC BioLabs, a launchpad for early-stage life-science companies, to offer the sixth Astellas Future Innovator Prize.

The competition offers up to two prizes for entrepreneurial scientists and emerging biotechnology startups, providing one year’s priority usage of MBC BioLabs’ state-of-the-art facilities in San Francisco, as well as access to Astellas’ research and development capabilities and business leaders.

Research ideas should complement Astellas’ areas of interest, including blindness and regeneration, genetic regulation, immuno-oncology, cell therapy, and targeted protein degradation.

Medical devices and digital health are excluded.

Applications are due by April 1, 2025. Those interested should submit a non-confidential company presentation, including a one-page executive summary, to be considered.

Five finalists will be invited to pitch in front of Astellas’ senior leadership on May 14 at the Final pitch event.

Joint Venture in Cell Therapy Manufacturing

Astellas announced on March 5 that it would establish a joint venture with Yaskawa Electric Corporation, also headquartered in Japan, for the development of a cell therapy product manufacturing platform.

The joint venture will offer platform access to startups and academic institutions, with the intention of fostering collaboration and innovation in the field of cell therapy.

It will address challenges that drug developers face in the commercialization of cell therapy, including the complex nature of the manufacturing process and the need for a skilled workforce.

The goal is to develop a manufacturing process with high precision and reproducibility using the dual-arm robot Maholo, developed by Yaskawa subsidiary Robotic Biology Institute, and optimize the digitized manufacturing process with AI.

The companies plan to establish the joint venture in September 2025. Astellas would own 60 percent and Yaskawa 40 percent.