On Sept. 15, 2016, Eisai announced the launch of the Eisai Andover innovative Medicines (AiM) Institute, a discovery innovation unit within the greater Boston biopharma hub. With 90 integrated scientists at a state-of-the-art research facility in Andover, Massachusetts, the Institute is focused on executing novel therapeutic targets validated by human genetics and related data to discover and develop precision medicines for some of the hardest-to-treat medical conditions including dementia, cancer and auto-immune diseases.

Eisai established the AiM institute as part of its new 10-year EWAY Strategic Plan, which was announced at the Global Information Meeting in March 2016. The institute is part of the Company’s end-to-end business model that efficiently integrates discovery, clinical and commercial functions. The AiM Institute brings together scientists, technologies and expertise across quantitative, biological, chemistry and translational sciences to target three key therapeutic areas: Immuno-dementia, immuno-oncology and auto-immune indications.

While the opportunity provided by human genetics to disrupt the drug discovery process is well established, realizing this potential has been hampered by conventional biopharma models structured with several siloed research groups “supporting” one another. By contrast, the AiM Institute is premised upon innovation without borders, and the ownership of a focused portfolio by a dedicated and multi-disciplinary group of scientists with a single mission: realizing a new paradigm in human biology driven drug discovery.