Division of Strategic Planning and Evaluation Research Projects on COVID-19
Rapid research and development (R&D) is now required to address the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that has spread worldwide since its first outbreak reported in the People’s Republic of China in December 2019. In view of this urgent public health need, AMED is supporting R&D projects in the areas described below as part of a government-wide initiative.
- (1) Diagnosis
- (2) Therapeutics
- (3) Vaccine
- (4) Clinical Research
- (5) Scientific Research on COVID-19
- (6) Basic Reasearch on Infectious Diseases including COVID-19
(1) Diagnosis
| Research Period | Principal Investigator | Affiliation | Project Title | General Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2019 | SUZUKI Tadaki | Director, Department of Pathology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases | Research on development of diagnostic tests for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) | The research group will aim to develop the basic technology for use in rapid diagnostic test kits for SARS-CoV-2. The group will focus on molecular and antibody based diagnostic technologies such as RT-LAMP, SARS-CoV-2 antigen detection assay, and anti-viral antibody detection assay. The group will also conduct viral genome analysis using clinical samples to develop robust diagnostic tests for SARS-CoV-2. |
| FY2020 | ISOBE Masaharu |
Professor, Faculty of Engineering , University of Toyama |
Research on the development of immediate clinical testing systems for SARS-CoV-2 | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | UZAWA Takanori |
Senior research scientist, RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research Nano Medical Engineering laboratory, RIKEN |
Development of BEF peptides for visualization virus in live cell | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | MARUYAMA Atsushi |
Professor, School of Life Science and Technology , Tokyo Institute of Technology |
Highly customizable, rapid and simple detection of pathogen-related RNA | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | YOSHIMI Kazuto |
Senior Assistant Professor , The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo |
Precision and portable diagnostics for viruses with new genome editing technology | To Be Announced |
(2) Therapeutics
| Research Period | Principal Investigator | Affiliation | Project Title | General Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2019 | TAKEDA Makoto | Director, Department of Virology 3, National Institute of Infectious Diseases | Research on replication mechanisms and anti-viral therapeutic agents of the novel coronavirus |
To develop therapeutic drugs for the novel betacoronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, multiple approaches are being used to identify compounds that inhibit the virus growth. By random screening of existing approved drug libraries and other compound libraries and infection mechanism, structural and biological evidence-based drug screening, infection-inhibitory molecules that suppress viral infection can be identified. In addition, by using a high-throughput monoclonal antibody isolation technique, a human type therapeutic monoclonal antibody against the virus is rapidly being established. Currently work is being done on the analysis of infection mechanisms, purification and structural analysis of high-purity proteins, screening of small molecule compound libraries, preparation of recombinant antigens targeting therapeutic antibodies, research and development of human monoclonal antibodies using these antigens, screening of existing drugs, virus propagation development of a real-time RT-PCR system for monitoring systems and screening of natural compound libraries. Research participants: National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Hokkaido University, Kitasato University, Kyushu University |
| FY2020 | YONEMITSU Yoshikazu |
Professor, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyushu University |
Development of therapeutic vaccine-like cell-based drug available to various emerging infectious diseases |
To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | OKUNO Takayuki |
Project manager, Research Planning Development , Shionogi & Co., Ltd. |
Therapeutic small molecule drug development program for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | KITANO Mitsuaki |
Head of Basic Research Group , Pharma & Supplemental Nutrition Solutions Vehicle , KANEKA CORPORATION |
Development program for therapeutic neutralizing antibodies against the Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | OKAMURA Kentaro |
Director , Department of Manufacturing Technology , Human Life CORD Inc |
Phase 1 Clinical Trial Using Allogenic Umbilical Cord-derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells in Severe COVID-19-related ARDS |
To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | SHIMASAKI Shigeki |
COO & Head of R&D, Research & Development, Nobelpharma Co Ltd. |
Conducting Phase II/III study of rhGM-CSF in patients with novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | TSUKAHARA Kappei |
Chief Data Officer, Tsukuba Research Laboratories, Eisai Co.,Ltd. |
Development of therapeutic drugs for preventing the progression to severe COVID-19 | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | SHINDO Yuichiro |
Assistant Professor , Department of Respiratory Medicine , Nagoya University |
Japanese, multicenter, phase II trial of combination therapy with favipiravir and corticosteroids for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients with mild respiratory failure: J-CRITICAL trial | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | MITSUYA Hiroaki |
Director General , Research Institute, National Center for Global Health and Medicine |
Developing main protease inhibitor for COVID-19 treatment | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 |
HANAKI
|
Director, Ōmura Satoshi Memorial Institute , Kitasato University |
Development of COVID-19 therapeutic agent based on the Ōmura natural compound, Avermectin | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | YAMAOKA Kunihiro |
Professor, Department of Rheumatology and Infectious Diseases, Kitasato University |
COVID-19 Kitasato Project; Investigator-initiated clinical trial of ivermectin for additional indication to COVID-19 | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | MAEDA Kenji |
National Center for Global Health and Medicine | Establishing convalescent plasma treatment for COVID-19 | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | TSUSHIMA Kenji |
Section Chief , Dep. of Refractory Viral Infection, Research Institute , International University of Health and Welfare, School of Medicine |
Treatment strategy with combination therapy for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | ISHIZAKA Yukihito |
Director, Department of Intractable Diseases, National Center for Global Healthand Medicine |
Developing COVD-19 specific globulin agents by identifying epitopes of neutralizing antibodies in convalescent patients. |
To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | OKAMOTO Toru |
Professor, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University |
Development and safety assessment of combination drugs and nucleolus-related novel drugs for COVID-19 | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | YASUTOMO Koji |
Professor, Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine, Tokushima University |
Development of a therapeutic antibody cocktail for COVID-19 | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | HONJO Tasuku |
Professor, Department of Immunology and Genomic Medicine, Kyoto University |
Immunoregulatory drug development to prevent recurrent pandemic COVID-19 | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | HARIGAE Hideo |
Professor, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku Universi |
A phase II investigator-initiated study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of PAI-1 inhibitor TM5614 in patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia |
To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | KAMITANI Wataru |
Professor, Department of Infectious Diseases and Host Defense, Gunma University |
Development of anti-COVID-19 therapy to suppress severe pneumonia by combination using adenovirus vector with ultra-multi guide RNA expression system and protease inhibitors. |
To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | TAKAORI Akifumi |
Professor, Department of Hematology & Oncology , Kyoto University |
Development of novel immunotherapy against COVID-19 using alpaca VHH technology | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | KAWAMOTO Hiroshi |
Professor, Institute for Frontier Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University |
Development of universal T cell therapy for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | HAGIWARA Masatoshi |
Professor, Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Kyoto University |
Therapeutic drug development program to suppress pandemic infection of COVID-19. | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | MATSUSHITA Shuzo |
Professor, Joint research Center for Human retrovirus Infection, Kumamoto University |
Establishment of human monoclonal antibodies that neutralize a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | KAWAOKA Yoshihiro |
Professor , Institute of Medical Science , University of Tokyo |
Establishment of the antibody therapy against novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | BABA Masanori |
Director, Joint Research Center for Huma Retrovirus Infection , Kagoshima University |
Development of novel amodiaquine derivatives effective in the treatment of novel coronavirus infection | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | MASUTOMI Kenkichi |
Chief, Division of Cancer Stem Cell, National Cancer Center |
Novel anti-viral strategy against SARS-CoV-2 by RdRP inhibitors | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | KITAMURA Kazuo |
Professor , Department of Internal Medicine, Miyazaki University |
Therapeutic drug development for severe pneumonia requiring mechanical ventilation caused by COVID-19 – Phase 2a trial |
To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | SAWAMURA Tatsuya |
Professor, School of Medicine, Shinshu University |
Development of drug for the therapy of severe COVID-19 | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | ODAGUCHI Hiroshi |
Director General, Oriental Medicine Research Center , Kitasato University |
Development of a novel crude drug extract preparation which prevents the exacerbation of COVID-19 patients in the early stage of infection |
To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | TAKEBE Takanori |
Professor, Institute of Research, Tokyo Medical and Dental University |
Intestinal ventilation-based therapeutics development for COVID-19 related severe respiratory complications |
To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | MATSUOKA Sahoko |
Director, Department of safety research on blood and biologics, National institute of infectious diseases |
Development of new antiviral drugs against emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, includingnovel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | YOKOTA Koichi |
General Manager / Executive Officer, Department of Pharmacological Research , StemRIM Inc. |
Development of in vivo tissue regeneration-inducing medicine for patients with COVID-19 pneumonia | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | SHINJO Hiroshi |
CEO,Himuka AM Pharma Corp. | Development of therapeutic drug for COVID-19 associated severe pneumonia. | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | MATSUO Takeru |
Chief Researcher, R&D Department, SENTAN Pharma Inc. |
Development of a novel COVID-19 therapeutic drug for asymptomatic and mild patients by using inhaled Development of a novel COVID-19 therapeutic drug for asymptomatic and mild patients by using inhaled | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | NIO Yasunori |
Associate Director, T-CiRA Discovery, Takeda pharmaceutical company limited. |
Development of novel complement targeting antibody therapy against fatal COVID-19 complications. | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | NAGASE Tsuyoshi |
Head,Medicinal Chemistry Research Laboratories, Department of New Drug Research Division, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. |
Therapeutic drug development program based on targeted protein degradation for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) |
To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | MAITA Ayako |
Researcher, Research and Development Department, Curreio Inc. |
Development of COVID-19 treatment based on the Cryo-EM Single Particle structur alanalysis of SARS-CoV-2 Target-DNA Aptamer complex | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | TUCHIYA Masayuki |
Director, Drug discovery and development department, Epsilon Molecular Engineering Inc. |
Development of multivalent VHH antibody drug for novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | KUROSAWA Tooru |
Executive Officer, Associate General Manager, Pharmaceutical R&D Division ,Meiji Seika Pharma Co., Ltd. | Therapeutic antibody development program for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | NAGABUKURO Hiroshi |
Chief executive officer, ARTham Therapeutics Inc. |
Development of novel pharmacotherapy to prevent development of severe conditions in patients with COVID-19 and to improve long-term prognosis, and its companion diagnostics | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | FUJITA Yu |
Assistant Professor , Division of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, The Jikei University School of Medicine |
Development and product utilization of innovative inhaled exosome medicine for COVID-19-induced severe pneumonia and ARDS | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | MATSUURA Yoshiharu |
Professor , Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University |
Mechanism-based research for discovery of anti-SARS2-CoV-2 drugs | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | TAKESHITA Masaru |
Project Assistant Professor, School of Medicine , Keio University |
Therapeutic drug development of neutralizing antibody against novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | MINAKAWA Noriaki |
Professor ,Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tokushima University | Development of nucleoside antimetabolites toward emerging / reemerging infectious diseases including novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | KINJO Takeshi |
Assistant Professor , Department of Respiratory diseases and infection, University of the Ryukyus |
Development of anti-inflammatory treatment with low dose colchicine for prevention of host inflammatory response phase in patients with novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) through a physician-initiated clinical trial |
To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | AOYAGI Tetsuji |
Associate Professor , Internal Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases , Tohoku University |
A phase II clinical trial with HLH-94 protocol, etoposide plus corticosteroid combination therapy, for severe illness patients with COVID-19 |
To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | WADA Takehiko |
Professor, Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials Professor, Tohoku University |
Creation of infectious disease treatment platform by novel nucleic acid therapeutics with remarkably enhanced catalytic target RNA cleavage activities |
To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | OHMAGARI Norio |
Director, Disease Control and Prevention Centre, Centre Hospital of the National Center for Global Health |
Research and development for establishment of the treatment for COVID-19 | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | MAENAKA Katsumi |
Professor, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University |
Therapeutic antibody development for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) based on deep structural analysis |
To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | OBIKA Satoshi |
Professor, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University |
Development of antisense oligonucleotides for the treatment of novel coronavirus disease and establishment of methods for the prediction and evaluation of off-target toxicity |
To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | OHOKA Nobumichi |
Section Chief, Division of Molecular Target and Gene Therapy Products, National Institute of Health Sciences |
Development of proteolysis-inducing drugs for COVID-19 and establishment of the off-target evaluation method. | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | IWATANI Yasumasa |
Department Chief, Clinical Research Center, National Hospital Organization Nagoya Medical Center |
Therapeutic drug development utilizing antibody mimetics against SARS-CoV-2 | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | HOSHINO Atsushi |
Assistant Professor, Department of Cardiovascular medicine, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine |
Resistance-free SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing drug development with high-affinity modified ACE2 protein. |
To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | KIDOYA Hiroyasu |
Associate Professor, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University |
Development of vasoprotective drug for improving the effect of antiviral drug against COVID-19 | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | SAITO Yoshiro |
Director, Division of Medicinal Safety Science, National Institute of Health Sciences |
Biomarker exploration on novel coronavirus infectious disease (COVID-19) pneumonia for proper treatment | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | YAMAHARA Kenichi |
Associate Professor, School of Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine |
Optimization of amniotic mesenchymal stem cell therapy to treat cytokine storms by COVID-19 | To Be Announced |
(3) Vaccine
| Research Period | Principal Investigator | Affiliation | Project Title | General Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2019 | HASEGAWA Hideki | Director, Influenza Virus Research Center, National Institute of Infectious Diseases | Research on development of vaccines of the novel coronavirus disease(COVID-19) | The research group will aim to develop a new vaccine by combining adjuvant and antigen vaccine using recombinant protein synthesis. |
| FY2019 | KAWAOKA Yoshihiro | Professor, Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo | Study on the control of a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) | This research aims to develop effective therapeutics and vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 by undertaking the following: 1) establish an animal model for the SARS-CoV-2 infection. We will determine whether marmosets, hamsters, mice, or ferrets that are susceptible to SARS-CoV or MERS-CoV are useful as animal models of SARS-CoV-2 infection. 2) establish human monoclonal antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of SARS-CoV-2-infected patients and verify their usefulness as therapeutic antibodies in animal models. 3) generate an mRNA vaccine encoding the spike(S) protein, a coronavirus infection protection antigen, and verify the protective effects of this vaccine in animal models. The basic technology for mRNA vaccines has already been established by the Japanese company Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. Even with limited information about SARS-CoV-2 growth mechanisms, it is feasible to develop mRNA vaccines, which are relatively easy to design and do not require cell substrates for vaccine production. |
| FY2020 | ITOH Yasushi |
Professor, Department of Pathology, Shiga University of Medical Science |
Development of a recombinant vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 using a cynomolgus macaque model | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | TANAKA Yoshimasa |
Professor , Center for Medical Innovation , Nagasaki University |
Development of vaccines against COVID-19 | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | MORITA Eiji |
Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Hirosaki University |
Development of SARS-CoV-2 nanoparticle vaccine inducing mucosal immune responses | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | WATANABE Yoshihiro |
Professor, Innovative Clinical Research, Center of Hospital Kanazawa University |
Development of sublingual vaccine to induce the defined epitope-specific IgA able to protect infection of the novel corona virus. |
To Be Announced |
Reference
DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, LIMITED Website：
Our Company's Efforts to Limit the Spread of the Virus that Causes COVID-19
(4) Clinical Research
| Research Period | Principal Investigator | Affiliation | Project Title | General Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2019 | YUZAWA Yukio | Hospital Director, Fujita Health University Hospital | Study on multicenter open-label randomized clinical trial of favipiravir to evaluate the viral load reduction effect in asymptomatic and mild patients with SARS-CoV2 infection/A multicenter observational study to evaluate the clinical course of moderate and severe patients receiving favipiravir | Favipiravir is an antiviral drug created by Toyama Chemical Co., Ltd. (Fujifilm Toyama Chemical Co., Ltd.) It was approved by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in March 2014, limiting the indications and effects to “emerging or re-emerging influenza virus infections (only if other anti-influenza virus drugs are ineffective or insufficiently effective).” The mechanism of action is that triphosphorylated form (T-705RTP) converted in vivo selectively inhibits viral RNA polymerase, so it is expected to be effective against RNA viruses other than influenza virus, but there is no evidence of utility for SARS-CoV2 infection. The aim of this research is to clarify the usefulness of favipiravir for asymptomatic and mild patients with SARS-CoV2 infection and the clinical course of moderate and severe patients receiving favipiravir by Specified Clinical Research. |
(5) Scientific Research on COVID-19
| Research Period | Principal Investigator | Affiliation | Project Title | General Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | SATO Kei |
Associate Professor (Principal Investigator), Institute of Medical Science , University of Tokyo |
Investigation of the biological principle of the pathogenicity and cross-species transmission of emerging virus infections including SARS-CoV-2 |
To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | SUGIYAMA Masaya |
Vice Project Leader , Genome Medical Sciences Project , National Center for Global Health and Medicine |
Research on development of predictive markers for COVID-19 prognosis | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | TAKEUCHI Ichiro |
Professor, Department of Medicine, Yokohama City University |
Patient Stratification for Optimizing Resource Distribution and Outcome | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | YAMAYOSHI Seiya |
Project Associate Professor, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo |
Antibody response against SARS-CoV-2 infection and serosurveillance | To Be Announced |
(6) Basic Reasearch on Infectious Diseases including COVID-19
| Research Period | Principal Investigator | Affiliation | Project Title | General Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2018 | MORISHIMA Tsuneo | VisitngProfessor, Pediatrics, Aichi Medical University |
Research on the diagnosis and treatment of severe respiratory infections caused by viruses | To Be Announced |
| FY2019 | SUZUKI Tadaki | Chief, Department of Pathology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases |
Development of pathological diagnostic methods for congenital infections and unexplained illness of possible | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | ARASE Hisashi |
Professor, Research Institute for Microbial Disease, Osaka University |
Development of methods of prevention or treatment for severe pneumonia caused by SARS-CoV2 infection | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | IWAMI Shingo |
Associate Professor, Department of Biology, Kyushu University |
Platform development for finding optimal antiviral treatment based on non-specific virus infection dynamics | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | KASAHARA Yuuya |
Sub-project Leader, Center for Drug Design Research, National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition |
Development of artificial nucleic acid aptamer for diagnosis, prevention and treatment of COVID-19 | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | SUZUKI Koichi |
Professor, Faculty of Medical Technology, Teikyo University |
Development of rapid, point-of-care diagnostic tool applicable for emerging infectious diseases without a need of specific device nor technique |
To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | TAOKA Kazuki |
Assistant Professo, Department of hematology and oncology, The University of Tokyo Hospital |
Development of a triage system for the severity of COVID19 pneumonia using artificial intelligence | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | HIRAI Toyohiro |
Professor, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kyoto University |
Research and development of cloud-based lesion quantification system for emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases such as COVID-19 using interstitial pneumonia quantification technology. | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | FUJITANI Shigeki |
Professor, Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine |
Randomized, Embedded, Multifactorial Adaptive Platform trial for Community-Acquired Pneumonia (REMAP-CAP) for COVID-19 response | To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | MATSUNAGA Akihiro |
Senior Scientist, Department of Intractable Diseases, National Center for Global Health and Medicine |
Study of the screening of the donor patients for the plasma transfusion therapy by measuring the neutralization antibody against COVID-19. |
To Be Announced |
| FY2020 | MINEGISHI Naoko |
Professor, Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, |
Validation of anti-SARS-CoV2 antibody detection methods and application to the preventive medicine, using the biospecimen and data stored in population- and hospital- based biobanks |
To Be Announced |
03/04/20
Last updated 06/02/21