The Unit for Early and Exploratory Clinical Development (Head: Takeshi Iwatsubo, faculty of medicine) is a new department established within the University of Tokyo Hospital in 2011, with physicians, pharmaceutical specialists and former pharmaceutical company employees.

The Unit is responsible for operations related to the "Program for consolidating a center for early-stage exploratory clinical trials" and the "Initiative to facilitate development of innovative drugs, medical devices, and cellular and tissue-based products", and will take on a commanding role as the central body to aggressively push these programs forward.

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare introduced in 2011 a program for consolidating a system to implement clinical trials necessary for the practical application of research achievements, in order to lead the world in the development of innovative drugs and medical devices based on promising research seeds in Japan. This is the "Program for consolidating a center for early-stage exploratory clinical trial".

The University of Tokyo Hospital was selected as the center for the neurological and psychiatric fields. The Unit will bridge research seeds with exploratory and evaluative clinical trials, and will be responsible for the management of intellectual property and clinical trials, as well as the negotiations with external institutions. (Click for more details)

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare started in 2012 the "Initiative to facilitate development of innovative drugs, medical devices, and cellular and tissue-based products", for which the University of Tokyo Hospital was selected as one of the base organizations. This initiative aims to achieve the early establishment of guidelines required for a swift approval review of innovative drugs and medical devices, as well as the cultivation of human personnel who can evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the most advanced technologies. The Unit is conducting the research for establishing clinical evaluation guidelines for drugs for Alzheimer's disease. (Click for more details)