The Institute of Drug Discovery Science was established in 2011 within the joint research facilities on the Tanabe-dori campus as an institute to assemble drug-discovery expertise of the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences for university-launched drug discovery. Since then, with the cooperation of the Graduate School of Medical Sciences, the University Hospital and the Graduate School of Natural Sciences, the institute has expanded and enhanced itself into a university-wide joint research facility of NCU. Consequently, in 2016, as a technical development center for drug discovery science, the institute was accredited as a Joint Usage / Research Center by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. As a unique facility covering the entire process of drug development, the institute promotes joint use and research on a national level.