Tokyo Medical and Dental University Nucleotide and Peptide Drug Discovery Center is a new research center dedicated to promoting convergence science, bringing together experts from various fields such as basic medicine, structural biology, clinical medicine, data science, nucleic acid chemistry, peptide chemistry, polymer engineering, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, toxicology, and materials science.

TMDU has developed innovative and versatile drug discovery technologies over the years, including heteroduplex nucleic acid drug discovery, middle-molecule drug discovery such as mRNA and peptide drugs, and advanced drug delivery and structural design technologies using cryo-electron microscopy. In 2022, we established the first academic drug discovery and therapeutic research center focused on middle molecule drug discovery, consolidating these foundational technologies. The center, a.k.a. the TIDE Center, was named after the common TIDE in nucleotides and peptides.

The TIDE Center combines the high physical properties of compounds and structural molecules developed in engineering research with therapeutic target genes and molecules discovered in medical research to actively pursue next-generation molecular target drug discovery. Specific diseases targeted include infectious diseases such as COVID-19, common diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, cancer, and osteoarthritis, and "N of 1" drug discovery for personalized medicine for rare and intractable diseases.

In this drug discovery research, the goal is not only to improve existing drug discovery and component technologies as physical properties or clinical applications but also to create non-natural artificial functional molecules based on solid molecular mechanisms of biology and pathophysiology. Additionally, we founded a drug manufacturing department that internalizes pharmaceutical manufacturing and regulatory research to promote academic middle-molecule drug discovery.

Our ultimate goal is to create innovative drug discovery technologies for middle molecules and provide new therapeutics that meet diverse patient needs from academia. As the only national university specializing in healthcare, we will leverage our drug discovery technology to develop pharmaceuticals and promote drug development for unmet medical needs, aiming to achieve "total healthcare" for all.

Director　
Takanori Yokota