Schering has regenerative products for heart disease and Parkinson's in late-stage clinical research. It said yesterday, the Respect the Aged holiday in Japan, that it would employ about 40 researchers in a research cluster in Kobe in central Japan. "When compared to the situation in the US and especially when compared to Germany, the conditions for cell research in Japan appear to be the most modern. The Japanese government has fully recognised the needs and the challenges of an ageing society," Schering said.
Kobe offers clusters of facilities for fundamental research, including the well-known Riken Institute.
Like Germany, Japan faces a demographic time bomb resulting from shrinking birth rates and rising life expectancy. By mid-century, demographers say, Japan will have more than 1m people aged over 100.
Government figures say 19 per cent of the country's 127m people are 65 or older, the highest level in the industrialised world.
Regenerative medicine ranges from the use of stem cells to regenerate entire organs to using genes to initiate regenerative processes.
AGT, Schering's top regenerative product also known as "bio-bypass", uses a human gene to encourage the formation of new blood vessels in areas that receive too little oxygen. With expected peak sales of €250m ($282m), it would become one of Schering's top-selling products.
Spheramine, the second significant regenerative product in Schering's pipeline, uses cell therapy to combat Parkinsons disease.
