Chugai researchers win Lasker-DeBakey Award for emicizumab discovery

Award and laureates

Drs. Kunihiro Hattori, Takehisa Kitazawa and Tomoyuki Igawa of Chugai received the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award for inventing emicizumab, a bispecific antibody treatment for hemophilia A. It is the second time Japanese researchers have won in the clinical category and the first time three Japanese researchers have been honoured simultaneously.

Scientific advance

The team pursued an "additive" antibody strategy: a bispecific full-length IgG that binds activated Factor IX and Factor X to reproduce Factor VIII function on activated platelets. Chugai also developed ART-Ig antibody‑engineering technology to enable efficient expression, purification and commercial‑scale manufacturing of this bispecific format.

Clinical evidence and impact

Integrated results from the phase III HAVEN 1–4 studies showed an annualized bleeding rate (ABR) of 1.4 events/year for treated bleeds over 24‑week intervals, with 70.8% of participants experiencing zero treated bleeds during Weeks 1–24 and 82.4% during Weeks 121–144. No new safety signals were identified; the most common adverse event was injection‑site reactions (27.8%). Emicizumab prevents bleeds regardless of the presence of factor VIII inhibitors and offers subcutaneous dosing with extended intervals.

Development, approvals and use

Emicizumab was developed in collaboration with Nara Medical University and licensed to Roche, with joint global development alongside Genentech. It was approved in the United States in 2017 and in Japan and Europe in 2018, is approved in more than 120 countries and has been used by over 30,000 people with hemophilia A (cumulative to 30 June 2026).

Ceremony and remarks

The award ceremony is scheduled for 17 September 2026 in New York. The laureates highlighted collaboration with clinicians and patients, described the scientific challenges overcome in creating emicizumab, and reaffirmed a commitment to advancing further innovations.