Tasuku Honjo - President, Foundation for Biomedical Research and Innovation at Kobe (FBRI)

A major transformation is taking place in the areas of medicine and drug discovery. Advances in genomic medicine and artificial intelligence—and analysis and application of medical big data—will significantly change the future of healthcare and medicine.

Our foundation collaborates with universities, research institutions, and industry to promote “in silico drug discovery” that uses the vast computational resources of high-performance computers such as the K computer. In anticipation of the launch of the post-K computer, we are currently developing and improving a user-friendly application for drug discovery with the graphical user interface (GUI). By significantly reducing the time and cost required to develop new drugs, we hope to improve the efficiency of drug development and facilitate the discovery of innovative new drugs in Japan.

We expect that the post-K computer will contribute to finding solutions for various issues facing medicine, healthcare, and other areas. It will help to bring about a society of health and longevity, and improve Japan’s R&D environment and industrial competitiveness.

(September 2017)