Chugai brings platform-first partnering to South San Francisco

Chugai Pharmaceutical is a century-old Japanese drugmaker with a market cap topping $75 billion —  yet for many U.S. scientists, it is barely on the radar. It wants to change that.

Better known in the U.S. for its ties to Roche (SIX:ROG; OTCQB:RHHBY) and Genentech than for its own discovery engine,  Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (Tokyo:4519) has had little visibility in the Bay Area science scene. Last week, at a reception in South San Francisco, the company marked the opening of a business development office, its first U.S. outpost dedicated to partnering with U.S. academics and start-ups...