LA JOLLA, CA – The La Jolla Institute for Immunology is pleased to announce that Mitsuo Satoh, Ph.D., executive officer, vice president head of research and development for the global specialty pharmaceutical company Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd., has been elected to its Board of Directors.
“We welcome Dr. Mitsuo Satoh as an extremely valuable new member of our board,” said Mitchell Kronenberg, Ph.D., La Jolla Institute president and chief scientific officer. “Dr. Satoh is a much-honored scientist and one of the leading pharmaceutical research scientists in the world. His company’s American subsidiary, Kyowa Hakko Kirin California, Inc., and La Jolla Institute have been longtime industry and research partners whose collaboration has led to pharmaceutical translation of many of the Institute’s promising discoveries into new treatments for disease.”
Dr. Satoh succeeds Hiroshi Okazaki, Ph.D., former executive officer vice president and head of Kyowa Hakko Kirin’s R&D, who served on the Institute board for three years. “I am very proud of the successful partnership between Kyowa Hakko Kirin and La Jolla Institute and look forward to working with the tremendously gifted and pioneering scientists at the Institute,” said Dr. Satoh. “The engrained culture of innovation creates important opportunities to improve people’s health around the globe.“
Dr. Satoh, who assumed his current position at Kyowa Hakko Kirin in March of 2017, began his scientific career with the Japanese company in 1987. In 1996, he became a visiting scientist at the Texas Medical Center where he studied chromosome engineering and subsequently contributed to the development of Potelligent® Technology for optimizing antibody-based pharmaceuticals after returning to Japan. Dr. Satoh was involved in glyco-engineered biological pipeline developments, including Mogamulizumab, Benralizumab and Acoalan. In the 2008 consolidation of Kyowa Hakko and Kirin Pharmaceutical, he led biologics development as director of antibody research laboratories. Beginning in 2011, he was deputy director of strategic product portfolio department, and continued to implement strategy as director of the immunology & allergy R&D unit from 2014 to 2017.
Dr. Satoh holds a Master of Pharmacy and Ph.D., from Hokkaido University. He is vice chairman of the Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, Biopharmaceutical Committee; councilor of Kato Memorial bioscience Foundation; and a member of MAbs editorial board. Dr. Satoh received the Kei Arima Memorial Award from the Japan Bioindustry Association in 2005 and the 62nd Okochi Memorial Technology Prize from The Okochi Memorial Foundation in 2016.
About La Jolla Institute for Immunology
The La Jolla Institute for Immunology is dedicated to understanding the intricacies and power of the immune system so that we may apply that knowledge to promote human health and prevent a wide range of diseases. Since its founding in 1988 as an independent, nonprofit research organization, the Institute has made numerous advances leading toward its goal: life without disease.
