Meiji Seika Pharma has entered into a strategic collaboration with MBC BioLabs to deepen its global drug discovery innovation partnership and strengthen external research engagement within the U.S. biotechnology ecosystem. The agreement brings Meiji Seika Pharma into direct collaboration with one of California’s most established biotech incubators, with the Meiji Seika Pharma, MBC BioLabs partnership providing structured access to early-stage startups, shared research infrastructure, and a highly networked innovation community in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Under the partnership, Meiji Seika Pharma will engage with resident biotech companies operating within MBC BioLabs’ fully equipped research facilities. MBC BioLabs is set up to take away the cost and operational challenges of building and running laboratory infrastructure, allowing early-stage biotech companies to focus on scientific research and development as they move toward commercialization. Within this setting, the drug discovery innovation partnership supports faster exploration of new therapeutic concepts while making early-stage external collaboration easier to pursue.
The collaboration aligns with Meiji Seika Pharma’s open-innovation strategy and supports research and development in its priority therapeutic areas, including infectious diseases, hematologic diseases, and immune-inflammatory diseases. By working directly with entrepreneurs and startup teams based at MBC BioLabs, Meiji Seika Pharma is seeking to uncover promising drug discovery seeds and speed up external collaborations that can complement its internal R&D work. The company sees active engagement with global innovation hubs as an important way to sustain its long-term pipeline, with the Meiji Seika Pharma, MBC BioLabs partnership acting as a practical entry point into the U.S. startup ecosystem.
“We aim to energize our drug discovery research by drawing new ideas from global innovation activities and deepening collaboration with innovation hubs in Japan and overseas. Partnering with MBC BioLabs, which has a proven track record of identifying numerous startups and guiding them toward commercialization, represents a major step forward in these efforts,” said Takeshi Naruse, Managing Executive Officer and Head of R&D at Meiji Seika Pharma.
MBC BioLabs highlighted the mutual value of the collaboration, emphasizing its role in supporting both entrepreneurs and established pharmaceutical innovators.
“MBC BioLabs is excited to partner with Meiji Seika Pharma to empower entrepreneurs and help bring Meiji’s innovations to the U.S. biotechnology ecosystem,” said Flavia Nachbar, Director of Alliances at MBC BioLabs. “This collaboration reflects our shared belief that bold science, backed by the right resources and relationships, can transform human health around the world.”
