Global Knowledge-Sharing Initiative

When the Pistoia Alliance was first formed in 2007, four Pharma industry representatives met for dinner during a conference in Italy. As they talked and shared, the original members, who were from different countries in Europe and the United States, realized they were all trying to solve the same problems in their own separate corners of the world. Instead, they felt, it would work much better if they could collaborate and spur innovation with much greater power.

Now, the Pistoia Alliance is broadening its reach, with the same guiding principles in mind. The outlines of their plan to reach out to fellow scientists in Japan began to take shape during a recent Dec. 9 webinar, the third in a series, called “Transforming Japan Life Sciences R&D Through Digital & Analytics.”

“My motto is always, have the humility to co-create,” said Prof. Ashley George, PhD, Pistoia Alliance founding member and Treasurer. “This is a wonderful opportunity.”

While the Pistoia Alliance has always been international, the outreach to Japan, and ultimately China and India, will make the organization become truly global, said John Wise, Pistoia Alliance Member Services Consultant, who has led the project from the beginning, in 2019.

“The Pistoia Alliance is very grateful for the input from so many of its members and friends for the Japan Global Knowledge-Sharing webinar series and in particular for the expert contribution from so many Japanese life scientists,” Wise said.

Several Japanese life science companies were represented, including the Takeda, Chugai, and Astellas. Participants discussed topics such as from using artificial intelligence and machine learning for drug discovery to regulatory issues and advances in the field of super aging.

The excellent line up of speakers included: Christoph Sandler (McKinsey & Company), Masato Iwasaki (Takeda), Zahid Tharia (Pistoia Alliance), Hisafumi Yamada (Chugai), Hideyoshi Fuji (Astellas), Yumi Inadome (IQVIA), Ayuko Nemoto (Sonderhoff & Einsel Law and Patent Office), Gakuse Hoshina (Accenture Japan), Toshio Fujimoto (Takeda).

Gradually, a new project will begin taking shape. “The concept is for the Pistoia Alliance to form a Japan Chapter. We imagine our Japanese colleagues running their own projects, with their own Japanese project managers, with their own culture, in their own language, in their own time zone,” Wise said. “Furthermore, we could imagine the Japan Chapter forming expert groups, say meeting on a quarterly basis, to address issues of common interest and importance to the Japan life science ecosystem.”

Japan will be the focus of this new global initiative until the Japanese ecosystem becomes self-sustaining, George said. “Once we’ve got a project in Japan, we’ll take the lessons learned and we’ll reach out to start in China and India,” he said.

All members of Pistoia Alliance, old and new, can benefit from this type of global collaboration and helpful exchange of new ideas, organizers said.

“The raison de etre of the Pistoia Alliance is to identify common problems amenable to common solutions and the Pistoia Alliance develops those common solutions via collaboration which leads to innovation,” Wise said.

He anticipates exciting progress in the months to come, with more events and Japanese experts formulating ideas for projects. “We will continue our Japan outreach initiative in the New Year with renewed energy,” Wise said.

The Pistoia Alliance provides members with a legal framework to enable pre-competitive collaboration. Its diverse portfolio of projects is detailed here. To learn more about membership contact membership@pistoiaalliance.org.

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