On Thursday, November 19, 2025, employees from the Japanese corporation of Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) visited our Center.

BMS is a core company that develops and markets Opdivo (nivolumab), one of the world’s first-generation PD-1 inhibitors, which blocks the function of PD-1 discovered by Tasuku Honjo, the Director of our Center. BMS has also made a generous donation toward the construction of our Center’s research building.
https://www.ccii.med.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/2021/01/26/start-of-the-construction-of-the-bms-building/

The purpose of the visit was a corporate employee training initiative, primarily for sales representatives, designed to help them learn about and deepen their understanding of the history and cutting-edge research behind the products and drugs they sell, thereby fostering an even greater sense of responsibility in their future work.

Following lectures by Associate Professor Takahashi and Professor Chamoto, the employees toured the research facilities, guided by Professor Kato, Assistant Professor Barakat, Associate Professor Wooseok, and Associate Professor Yaguchi. Associate Professor Sugiura and Associate Professor Kikuchi provided explanations of the latest equipment. The BMS team commented that the training was highly informative and rewarding.

For our Center, this was also an excellent opportunity to help them deepen their understanding of the history and the latest developments in cancer immunotherapy, as well as the mission of the Center itself. We hope to continue to strengthen our collaborative relationship in the future. We look forward to deepening the collaborative relationship between our two organizations in the future.

See here for Peace for All shirts.