Presently, lab facilities and offices of the Center for Cancer Immunotherapy and Immunobiology (CCII) are spread out over several buildings within the campus of Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, with main offices and laboratories at Kyoto University’s “Medical Innovation Center”. In 2024, we plan to move into a brand-new building across the street of the Kyoto University Hospital.

With a total floorspace of 9500 m2 over 5 floors, the new building will provide laboratory and office space for up to 300 scientists, research fellows, students, or visitors, with additional room for shared facilities and special instrumentation, including a dedicated animal facility in the basement. The first floor of the building will host a multi-functional hall for conferences and cultural events, space for exhibitions and educational activities, and a cafeteria.

Industry Sponsorship and Industry Collaborations

Funding for CCII’s new building has been provided through a donation of 5.5 billion (USD 53 million in 2019) from Bristol Myers Squibb, the pharmaceutical company behind the cancer drug Opdivo, the second PD-1/PDL-1 inhibitor approved for treatment. Additional funding for the new facility has been provided by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and Kyoto University. To honor the large contribution by Bristol Myers Squibb, the new facility will carry the official name “Bristol Myers Squibb Building at the Center for Cancer Immunotherapy and Immunobiology”.

Close relationships with industry partners will be crucial for CCII’s success. To foster interactions with industry, the new CCII building will provide spaces for joint research with partner companies. CCII will place special emphasis on industry-academia collaboration, aiming at innovations in cancer treatment.

A Unique Design by Tadao Ando

The architecture of the Bristol Myers Squibb Building at the Center for Cancer Immunotherapy and Immunology is based on an original design by Tadao Ando, one of Japan’s most celebrated contemporary architects known for minimalist designs that emphasize basic forms, structures, and materials.

The circular floor plan of the main tract of the building, as well as the building’s exterior design, and including its color, resembles an immune cell. Its interior provides researchers and technicians both with closed spaces for concentrated work and open or semi-open spaces that encourage communication. The circular part of each of the research floors is a common laboratory space shared by two research groups. The four research floors are directly connected through a spiral staircase at the very center of the building.