Singapore: Japanese drugmaker Takeda has inked a 10-year pact with Japan's Kyoto University to co-develop stem cell therapies for a variety of diseases such as heart failure and cancer. As per the terms, Takeda will collaborate with the University's Center for iPS Cell Research Application (CiRA) to accelerate multiple research projects using pluripotent stem cells as stand-alone treatments and in the discovery of new drugs.

The drugmaker will provide research facilities at its Shonan Research Center and a collaborative funding of about $168 million over the 10-year period and about $100 million worth of research support. Mr Shinya Yamanaka, director, CiRA, a Nobel laureate for his work on iPS cells, will direct the program, which will involve nearly 10 projects over the 10-year period.