LA JOLLA INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY & IMMUNOLOGY AND KIRN PHARMA USA OPEN NEW WORLD-CLASS RESEARCH FACILITY
Center Raises San Diego's Scientific Profile in Immunology/Infectious Disease
SAN DIEGO - July 12, 2006 - The La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology (LIAI) and Kirin Pharma USA, Inc. will hold grand opening ceremonies today for their new state-of-the art research facility that will further strengthen San Diego’s position as a leading hub for biomedical research, particularly in the area of immunology and infectious diseases.
The building will include an Emerging Infectious Disease and Biodefense Center, one of the few such dedicated research centers in San Diego, and is the first facility to locate in the University of California, San Diego’s (UCSD) new Science Research Park, adjacent to the East Campus Medical Center complex.
“Today marks a momentous occasion for the advancement of the fight against infectious diseases and cancer, as well as immune system disorders such as allergies, type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis,” said Mitchell Kronenberg, Ph.D., President and Scientific Director of LIAI, a nonprofit medical research institute. “This world-class facility provides more space, new labs and cutting-edge equipment that will enable us to intensify our research efforts against debilitating diseases that affect millions of people around the globe.”
Kronenberg said the facility’s location in the UCSD Science Research Park will also advance disease research by encouraging scientific collaboration between Kirin Pharma USA, LIAI’s internationally recognized scientists and UCSD’s world-renowned physicians and faculty. “This unique collaboration – involving a nonprofit research institution, a biopharmaceutical company and a renowned medical teaching institution -- holds great promise for speeding the translation of basic research discoveries into treatments and cures for a wide range of human diseases,” he said.
More than 400 people are expected to attend a reception and dedication ceremony celebrating the opening of the 145,000-square-foot building, which is the new home of LIAI -- a world leader in immunology research and San Diego’s only research institution focused on solving immune system diseases -- and Kirin Pharma USA, a San Diego-based biopharmaceutical research and development company. Kirin Pharma USA is the U.S. subsidiary of Kirin Brewery Co., Ltd., Japan’s leading comprehensive beverage group. Kirin Pharma USA has provided partial research support and has collaborated with LIAI on various research topics since the Institute’s establishment in1988.
San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, a featured speaker at the dedication event, said the new facility is another important step for San Diego, one of the nation’s three leading biotech clusters and home to more than 500 biomedical companies. “This facility expands San Diego’s biotechnology footprint in research on infectious diseases and other immune system disorders,” he said. “This is vitally important as the world faces the potential threat of avian flu along with West Nile virus and other dangerous infectious diseases.”
LIAI‘s Emerging Infectious Disease and Biodefense Center, launched in 2004, focuses research efforts on the fight against new and re-emerging infectious diseases such as West Nile virus, avian flu, SARS and smallpox. The Center is also home to the world’s largest database on how the immune system responds to infectious disease. LIAI developed the database, considered a critical tool in the worldwide battle against infectious disease, in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases.
Marye Anne Fox, UCSD Chancellor, said the university looks forward to working with LIAI and Kirin Pharma USA. “The UCSD Science Research Park allows us to strengthen creative collaborations that can help bridge the gap between laboratory research and the development of practical applications that benefit society,” she said. “Kirin Pharma USA and the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology are model tenants, bringing strength and expertise in life sciences research that holds great promise for improving human health.”
LIAI was recently ranked among the top five molecular biology and genetics research organizations in the world. Its researchers announced several major research breakthroughs over the last year, including a combination therapy that may cure type 1 diabetes in the early stages, and a new antibody treatment for smallpox.
Kirin Pharma USA also announced major findings during the last year,
most significantly the development of a novel, fully human monoclonal
antibody to a wide variety of human and avian influenza strains,
including the H5N1 avian flu. The results were announced at the 45th
Interscience Conference on Chemotherapy and Antimicrobial Agents
(ICAAC) Meeting in Washington, D.C in December, 2005. The finding
resulted from a collaboration between LIAI and Kirin Pharma USA, and
Kirin Pharma USA is now initiating preclinical studies of the antibody.
Sanders praised the new facility’s location in the USCD Science
Research Park, calling it an intelligent blend of public and private
organizations that offers potential medical advancement. “This is a
“win-win” for society,” he said.
While LIAI maintains its independent finances and identity, officials anticipate substantial day-to-day interaction between Kirin Pharma USA scientists, LIAI researchers and UCSD physicians and scientists. Many of LIAI’s scientists are already members of the UCSD faculty.
Koichiro Aramaki, Ph.D., Chairman & CEO of Kirin Brewery in Japan, the parent company of Kirin Pharma USA, said the close relationship and collaboration with both LIAI and UCSD will be a powerful combination that will fuel the development of innovative medicines. Aramaki also said the new facility marks a proud milestone for the expansion of Kirin’s pharmaceutical division into a global company.
Tenants who lease land or facilities on the UCSD Science Research Park must conduct industrial, scientific and technological activities in various scientific disciplines, including medicine, life sciences and engineering. As part of the lease agreement, tenants agree to participate with UCSD in research and educational programs.
Kazuo Kawamura, Ph.D., President of Kirin Pharma USA, said the new location offers a dynamic environment for scientific discourse. “Being part of this immense pool of biomedical talent may enable us to move our findings more quickly into clinical trials and conversely it will allow us to assist LIAI and the University to translate their discoveries into the next stage of development. The combination of our unique technology to produce 100% human antibodies in animals and LIAI and UCSD’s findings will be a powerful tool to develop new medicines and therapies. We truly have a huge opportunity to make advances in human health.”
Founded in 1988, the Institute's research staff includes more than 100
scientists with doctoral degrees, who focus on four major research
areas: autoimmune diseases such as
type 1 diabetes; cancer and stimulating immune responses against
tumors; allergy and asthma; and infectious diseases such as those
caused by the smallpox and West Nile viruses.
The institute and its more than 200 employees were previously located in a relatively cramped, 45,000-square-foot building on Science Center Drive, with employee overflow going to a site in Pacific Beach. The new facility will house LIAI’s 16 independent laboratories and Kirin Pharma USA’s Science’s research and development labs.
Located on 3.42 acres, the new building encompasses four levels and features a three-story atrium with overhanging balconies and a 157-seat auditorium. The building’s “open laboratory” floor plan is designed for LIAI’s highly collaborative research environment and includes specialized rooms for all aspects of molecular and cellular biology.
"By equipping LIAI researchers with the latest research technology, in a location that invites some of the brightest minds in science to work together, we have the potential to push forward medical research at an unprecedented rate,” Kronenberg said. "We believe this building will be an important address in cutting-edge science."
About Kirin Brewery
Kirin is Japan's leading comprehensive alcohol group. Established in
1982, the pharmaceutical division of Kirin is applying its knowledge of
biotechnology to the development of advanced pharmaceutical products in
the fields of renal disease, cancer and hematological diseases,
immunological and allergy-related diseases, and infectious diseases.
Kirin's recombinant DNA-based ESPO® (erythropoietin) and GRAN® (G-CSF),
co-developed with Amgen, have annual sales more than $500 million in
Asia. Kirin's pharmaceutical division has now expanded its technology
platform to include human antibody development and cell therapy. For
more information, please visit: www.kirin.co.jp/english.
About Kirin Pharma USA, Inc
Kirin Pharma USA is a wholly-owned US subsidiary of Kirin Brewery Co.,
Ltd. of Japan. Kirin Pharma USA was established in 1988, and acts as
Kirin's sole agent in the US, facilitating the company's pharmaceutical
research and business development efforts in North America. Since 1989,
Kirin Pharma USA has been a major corporate sponsor of the LIAI. Kirin
Pharma USA and LIAI collaborate closely on a number of projects and
have recently begun a mutual effort to develop therapeutics to combat
infectious diseases. The anti-influenza M2 project is a result of Kirin
Pharma USA's and LIAI's collaborative effort. Kirin Pharma USA
currently has over 40 employees, of which, more than half includes
Kirin Pharma USA's research staff. For more information on Kirin Pharma
USA, please visit: www.kirings.com
About LIAI
Founded in 1988, the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology is a
nonprofit medical research center dedicated to increasing knowledge and
improving human health through studies of the immune system. Scientists
at the institute carry out research searching for cures for cancer,
allergy and asthma, infectious diseases, and autoimmune diseases such
as diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease and arthritis. LIAI's research
staff includes more than 100 Ph.Ds.
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