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Published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on August 9, 2000. All rights
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New Pharma at Carnegie Center: JT’s Akros
Akros Pharma Inc., a 12-year-old, wholly-owned
subsidiary
of mega Japanese firm JT, has opened an office at the Carnegie Center,
occupying temporary quarters at 214 and soon to move to 302. It also
has an office in the San Francisco Bay area.
With concentration on metabolic and renal diseases, cardiovascular
conditions, and antivirals, it works with combinatorial chemistry
and with genomics, in collaboration with Maryland-based Gene Logic.
Akros has licensed its products to such companies as Johnson & Johnson
and Pharmacia & Upjohn.
The name of the firm is based on the Greek word for peak or pinnacle,
says Tatsuya Yoneyama, the president. After majoring in chemistry
at Hokkaido University, Class of 1970, Yoneyama joined JT and has
worked in the pharmaceutical area for the past 10 years. He is an
avid golfer with a single digit handicap.
“Our mission here is to perform clinical development of products
coming out of the pipeline, overseeing clinical trials in the U.S.
and Europe,” says Ken Kiyose, director of contracts and licensing
and development. “We also have a business development function,
establishing relationships with biotech companies and universities,
arranging licensing, and bringing our products to the attention of
multinational companies here. We also have a network of consultants
to identify collaborative research and licensing opportunities.”
“We are a fairly new entrant into the pharmaceutical sector, and
initially we will be working through CROs,” says Kiyose. “We
began in 1988 and our products are just now coming through the
pipe.”
Akros participated with a Warner Lambert company, Agouron, in the
joint development of an AIDS drug, Viracept, the top selling protease
inhibitor in the U.S. Other partners are Tularik in San Francisco,
Chiron in the Bay Area, and Corixa in Seattle.
The son of a linguistics professor, Kiyose majored in psychology at
Reed College, Class of 1987, and has a graduate degree from Yale in
East Asian studies. He and the other Akros personnel moved here from
Japan in April. The choice of Princeton was based on a need to be
close to the industry’s major players, on a safe and pleasant place
to live, and on the area’s value for recruitment, Kiyose says. “We
plan to expand next year and were advised by consultants that the
Princeton name had a cachet that might help in recruiting.”
Akros Pharma Inc., 214 Carnegie Center, Suite 302,Princeton 08540. Tatsuya Yoneyama, president. 609-919-9570; fax,609-919-9575.Top Of PageNew in Town: TeijinTeijin America Inc., 600 Alexander Park, Suite304, Princeton 08540. Yuko Hartley, office manager. 609-716-7636;fax, 609-716-9482.The Princeton office of the pharmaceutical company based in Tokyohas been open for about six weeks.Top Of PagePharma Expansions: CHSFounded by Jane A. Donahue, Consumer Health Scienceshas more than doubled in size in two years and has moved from 346to 165 Wall Street in Research Park, an expansion of 3,000 to 10,000square feet. This healthcare information company conductsdisease-specificsurveys of patients and caregivers that help to bridge the gap betweenthe doctor and the consumer.Until recently CHS was self funded, but last October it was purchasedby Grey Healthcare Group, a division of Grey Advertising. “We’rein the big time now,” says Donohue. “It enables us to grow morerapidly.” Two years ago she had 14 employees, and now she has 32 andis looking for more. The company name stays the same.One of the company’s most visible efforst, the National Health andWellness Survey — which profiles health, including both attitudesand behaviors, use of over-the-counter and alternative medicines,and the frequency of visits to doctors — is now being conductedin the U.K., France, Germany, and the United States. The firm hadfour condition-specific, longitudinal studies for depression,schizophrenia,Alzheimer’s, and diabetes, and has added a fifth, for organ transplantrecipients.Such data is particularly important in today’s “direct toconsumer”market, in which patients respond to mass media advertising to asktheir doctors for a particular drug. CHS data also helps doctorsunderstandpatients — to know, for instance, why patients sometimes resisttaking a particular medication.”Grey gives us a tremendous amount of autonomy and a lot ofexposurein the pharmaceutical industry. Grey has a lot of cachet, and withthat relationship we have become an international company in shortorder,” says Donahue.She is thrilled to get questions about how attitudes are differentin Europe and Asia. “Surprisingly, the methodologies are the same— classic market research techniques. The field work is done inthe countries, and we do the cleaning, coding, and scoring here.”The daughter of a Readers Digest executive, Donohue majored inpsychologyat St. Lawrence, Class of ’74, and has a Ph.D. in social researchfrom Bryn Mawr. Donohue, formerly director of outcomes research atJanssen Pharmaceutica, founded this firm nearly four years ago (U.S.1, June 28, 1998). “It has been incredibly rewarding to take anidea literally from my basement,” says Donohue.Consumer Health Sciences LLC, 165 Wall Street,Princeton 08540. Jane A. Donohue PhD, president. 609-924-4455; fax,609-924-7794. Www.consumerhealthsciences.com.Previous StoryNext StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
