MGC and Veritas In Silico Sign MOU for Joint Venture in the Development of RNA-Targeted Pharmaceuticals

Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Inc. (MGC; Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Masashi Fujii) and Veritas In Silico, Inc. (VIS; Head Office: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; President: Shingo Nakamura) hereby announces that they have concluded the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for a joint venture aimed at the research, development and manufacturing of innovative oligonucleotide therapeutics targeting RNA.

Drug discovery and manufacturing methods (including purification) for the development of oligonucleotide therapeutics are continuing to advance even today. From the perspective of QbD (Quality by Design), which has become an essential product development concept in recent years, it is important to consider drug discovery and manufacturing in tandem when developing drugs. However, the adoption of such an approach is currently rare in the case of oligonucleotide therapeutics.

MGC has set "medical/ food" as one of target areas in "Grow UP 2023", the medium-term management plan, and starts several projects on this area. MGC recognizes that oligonucleotide therapeutics is one of promising treatments in medical field, and is investing in VIS from 2017. MGC is preparing the next medium-term management plan, "Grow UP 2026", and being drafted in the direction of expanding business on "medical/ food" area.
MGC believes that the oligonucleotide therapeutics market has potential to grow, and we are considering the potential of developing a CDMO business in this area in addition to antibody medicine. MGC has been pursuing business cooperation with VIS since December 2023 after acquiring a stake in the company in 2017, and we have now reached an agreement on the broad outlines of this initiative.

As a pathfinder in mRNA-targeted drug discovery, VIS is exploring a novel methodology for mRNA-targeted therapeutics with its proprietary ibVIS™ drug discovery platform, which consists of in silico target identification in any mRNA, robust and quantitative high-throughput screening, and a variety of drug discovery technologies optimized for mRNA-targeted medicines. We believe that ibVIS™ platform will be also effective in the discovery of oligonucleotide therapeutics and mRNA medicines.

In addition to our expertise in producing antibody drugs, MGC has experience and knowledge in GMP manufacturing, and we plan to offer manufacturing services for oligonucleotide therapeutics. From the point at which VIS discovers new oligonucleotide therapeutics, MGC will consider the most appropriate manufacturing and purification methods for those new discoveries based on best manufacturing practices, and it is expected that these efforts will fundamentally improve the likelihood for future oligonucleotide therapeutics to meet quality standards.

In order to further advance research and development of oligonucleotide therapeutics using VIS's ibVIS™ platform, we will consider conducting joint research with the company going forward.

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