The 26th Workshop of the Japanese Society for the Study of Xenobiotics

Representative Organizer, Toshiya Moriwaki
(Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics Research Laboratories, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited)

The 26th Workshop of the Japanese Society for the Study of Xenobiotics (JSSX) will be held at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Keio University, on April 22 (Sunday) and 23 (Monday), 2012. The theme of this workshop shall be, “Drug interaction studies supporting drug discovery and development -A gem of an anthology-.” The subtitle “A gem of an anthology” was adopted because I think that this workshop will be the best of the best for discussing drug interactions.
According to the results of a questionnaire survey of companies conducted two years ago by JSSX , ‘drug interactions’ was one of the most crucial topics for a workshop. Therefore, a questionnaire survey was conducted last year, in which pharmaceutical companies undertaking research activities were asked to enumerate the research results on drug interactions that they felt could be presented outside the company, and this program was prepared based on the results of this questionnaire survey. In this questionnaire survey, the companies were asked to propose presentations in which the reality of corporate research would be actively reflected, even if unrefined, particularly presentations including as many in-company cases as possible. As a result, as many as 10 excellent presentations of corporate research covering topics ranging from drug discovery to clinical studies were collected. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who participated in the survey.

In addition, before the company session, keynote addresses on CYP and transporters will be delivered by Dr. Hisaka of the University of Tokyo Hospital and Dr. Sugiyama of the University of Tokyo. Furthermore, Dr. Horiuchi of the Japanese Society of Hospital Pharmacists will deliver a special lecture on the issues  involved in interaction studies from the viewpoint of drug approval review. These lectures will provide much administrative information and also cover topics related to regulation, which were found to be needed the most from the results of the questionnaire.

Thus, this workshop will be a forum for exchanging practical information and opinions among corporate researchers. I certainly hope that it will be a workshop by corporate researchers for corporate researchers. To achieve the purpose of the workshop, active participation in the discussions will be of essence. A get-together will also be held, and in case sufficient time is not available for all the questions and answers during the workshop, a great deal can also be discussed at the get-together.
It can be said that this workshop will be a complete album of interaction studies, in that best practices of companies will be collected as fugues with lectures delivered by the world’s leading researchers as preludes. I would be grateful if all of you would weave harmonies in the form of discussion to complete “A gem of an anthology” for each of you.