Pain

6-1. Novel drug target molecules, drug candidates and therapeutic concepts for pain

6-1-1. Chronic Pain, such as neuropathic pain, nociceptive pain, nociplastic pain, cancer pain and postoperative pain

Research Interests:

• Mechanism of action targeting neurons (e.g., dorsal root ganglion neurons and dorsal horn neurons)
• Mechanism of action targeting glial cells (e.g., astrocyte, microglia and satellite glia)

Out of Interests:

• Same mechanism of action as opioids or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)

Other Requirements:

• in vitro experimental results demonstrating the expected mechanism of action must be required for novel drug target molecules.
• Experimental data suggesting competitive advantages over launched drugs and/or drug candidates should be required.

6-2. Drug development technologies for pain

6-2-1. Pain Phenotypic Screening System

Research Interests:

• Cell-based in vitro assay systems with primary neurons (e.g., dorsal root ganglion neurons and dorsal horn neurons) and/or glial cells (e.g., astrocyte, microglia and satellite glia) for new target identification

Other Requirements:

• Plate-based screening with medium (96-well) to high (384-well) throughput is desirable.
• Cell culture system with iPS cell-derived neurons and/or glial cells from healthy or patient, or with rat primary cells is desirable.