Astellas Pharma
Astellas Institute for Regenerative Medicine (AIRM) was established in May 2016 following Astellas’ acquisition of Ocata Therapeutics. Headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts and supported by a research team in Tsukuba, Japan, AIRM is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Astellas and serves as the Company’s global hub for regenerative medicine and cell therapy research in ophthalmology and other therapeutic areas that have few or no available treatment options.
Astellas has prioritized ophthalmology as a new therapeutic area of research as part of the Company’s strategy for sustainable growth. Astellas is focused on treatments for disorders of the posterior segment of the eye where no standard drug treatments are currently available. These include retinitis pigmentosa (RP), dry age related macular degeneration (AMD), Stargardt’s macular degeneration (SMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME). More details about Astellas’ development programs can be found here.
Together with AIRM, Astellas is focused on early discovery of cell therapy products for a variety of diseases through a combination of in-house research and external collaborations, using existing technologies and the creation of proprietary technologies. Astellas’ research partners include world-class academic institutions for regenerative medicine and cell therapy in the US, England and Japan.
Originally established in 1994, Ocata (formerly Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. until 2014) was a publically-traded, biotechnology company. Astellas acquired Ocata in February 2016, and changed its name to Astellas Institute for Regenerative Medicine (AIRM).
