Fireside Chat: Tadaaki Taniguchi

Astellas Chief Research and Development Officer Tadaaki Taniguchi MD, PhD joined Rishi Singh MD to discuss how drug development is changing across ophthalmology, oncology, rare disease and other areas where new therapeutic modalities are moving quickly.

Taniguchi described R&D as a sequence of connected choices: understand the biology, select the modality that best addresses it and focus on an unmet need meaningful enough to justify the work. Astellas' expansion into ophthalmology illustrates that strategy. Its acquisition of Iveric Bio added more than a near-market product. It brought scientific, clinical and commercial capabilities that complemented the company's existing work in areas such as cell therapy.

Artificial intelligence is also helping accelerate discovery. Taniguchi described computational tools and high-performance computing reducing timelines in parts of R&D while noting that complex modalities such as protein degraders, antibody-drug conjugates and bispecifics still require substantial human judgment.

That complexity makes partnership fundamental. Modern drug development demands too many capabilities for any single organization to own.