Nissan Chemical and Axcelead DDP Enter into Business Partnership to Support Drug Discovery Research for RNA Therapeutics

2025.07.18

Tokyo and Kanagawa, Japan, July 18, 2025 — Nissan Chemical Corporation (HQ: Tokyo, Japan; Representative Director, President and COO: Shinsuke Yagi; hereinafter “Nissan Chemical”) and Axcelead Drug Discovery Partners, Inc. (HQ: Fujisawa, Kanagawa; Representative Director, President and CEO: Kengo Okada, Ph.D.; hereinafter “Axcelead DDP”) have entered into a business partnership to support drug discovery research for RNA therapeutics.

Nissan Chemical is actively engaged in the development of innovative RNA therapeutics through its proprietary drug discovery platform, which integrates MCE (2′-O-[2-(N-Methylcarbamoyl)ethyl]-ribonucleoside) modified antisense/siRNA, single-stranded Hetero Duplex Oligonucleotide (ss-HDO), and a sequence design algorithm. These technologies are leveraged to generate innovative RNA therapeutics through both in-house and collaborative research with pharmaceutical companies.

Axcelead DDP positions RNA therapeutics as a next-generation modality alongside small molecules and peptides, and offers integrated drug discovery services. These include rapid lead generation using a proprietary algorithm, the development of genetically modified animal models tailored to target genes, and DMPK-Tox comprehensive evaluation package including high-throughput in vitro safety assessments for nucleic acid drugs.

Through this business partnership, both companies will jointly provide both RNA therapeutic technologies to clients and carry out joint promotional activities. Moving forward, the two companies will aim to build integrated and seamless support services that cover the entire process of nucleic acid drug discovery —from the design of novel nucleic acid drugs to efficacy and safety evaluations, and even active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing.

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About Nissan Chemical Corporation
Nissan Chemical Corporation contributes to solving social issues providing products and services through four business areas – Performance materials, Agricultural chemicals, Chemicals, and Healthcare. We will acquire new technologies and accelerate growth in each business area by improving and combining core technologies.
Additional information is available at https://www.nissanchem.co.jp/eng/.

About Axcelead DDP
Axcelead DDP is Japan’s first drug discovery solution provider established in July 2017 by inheriting the drug discovery platform from Takeda Pharmaceutical. Screening, medicinal chemistry, pharmacology/biology, DMPK, and safety research functions are integrated into one center with a state-of-the-art research base and original compound library. Together with the most advanced AI capability integration to Axcelead DDP’s service, Axcelead DDP creates high quality drug candidates rapidly. By leveraging these strengths, Axcelead DDP provides solutions to various challenges faced in the process from exploratory research to clinical in drug discovery. For more information, please visit https://axcelead-us.com/