Photo/Illutration Toru Miyazaki is developing a drug for treating kidney disease in cats based on a protein that does not work properly in their bodies. (Ryosuke Nonaka)

Toru Miyazaki’s efforts to develop a drug for treating cat kidney disease had been almost derailed by the novel coronavirus pandemic until a torrent of donations poured in from thousands of cat lovers.

Now, he has decided to quit his job as professor of immunology at the University of Tokyo at the end of March and go it alone to see his project through to the end.

Miyazaki will create a nonprofit called the Institute for AIM Medicine, and many members of his research team will move there, according to an announcement made on Jan. 11.

“I will be able to make decisions quickly by going independent,” he told The Asahi Shimbun. “For starters, I hope to speed up the development of the drug for cats.”

He plans to launch a clinical trial by the end of this year and apply for government approval to sell the drug as veterinary medicine as early as 2023.

Miyazaki discovered a protein called “apoptosis inhibitor of macrophage” (AIM), which exists in the blood of many animal species. He found in 2016 that AIM does not work properly in the animals of the cat family, which are prone to developing kidney disease.

He said an AIM-based medicine could eventually be developed for humans because the protein may be involved in chronic diseases in their kidneys and other body parts as well.

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Toru Miyazaki, a professor of immunology at the University of Tokyo (Photo by Ryosuke Nonaka)

Miyazaki was working with a business to develop an AIM-based drug for cats, but the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult to procure funding and the endeavor came to a halt.

Last summer, a media report on Miyazaki’s predicament prompted a flood of donations from cat lovers across Japan to the University of Tokyo, totaling more than 200 million yen ($1.76 million).

Miyazaki said several pharmaceutical companies offered to help him following the rush of donations. He decided to proceed with the development work with a Japanese drug maker.

“I realized the support of 10,000 or 20,000 people is so powerful,” he said. “I felt a strong sense of responsibility, and I made up my mind to go independent.”

Miyazaki plans to administer a prototype drug to several cats and subsequently start a clinical trial on a larger scale using felines with symptoms of progressive kidney disease.

The effectiveness of the drug will be reviewed about six months after it is administered to the trial subjects. An application will be filed with the agriculture ministry for approval of the drug.

In principle, the Institute for AIM Medicine will run on research funding Miyazaki has acquired from the government. That will allow donations to the institute to be spent entirely on drug research and development without having part of them withheld for his office or other overhead expenses, Miyazaki said.

The procedures for providing support to the institute and other details will be released.

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