Leadership & Team
IDEC proudly offers extensive experience in regulatory consulting and stakeholder alignment in the Japanese pharmaceutical market. Our leadership and team are comprised of industry experts and practitioners committed to helping our clients gain expedient entry into Japan.
Meet Our Leadership
Chris Brünger, MD
Founder and Chairman, Chief Medical Officer

Brünger has more than 25 years of global drug development experience. He held senior R&D positions for Schering AG and Pharmacia Corporation in Japan and Germany from 1989 to 2003, before founding IDEC. He is also a licensed physician in Germany and Japan.
Dr. Brünger’s unique experience in Japanese clinical practice, medical research, and international drug development enable him to work with clients to build effective solutions to integrating Japanese regulatory and marketing requirements into global development programs. He has prepared and managed more than 50 PMDA consultations, and he pioneered Japanese-Korean clinical co-development and studies in ethnic Japanese outside Japan.
Naoya Kato, MSc
Representative Director and CEO

Mr. Kato has more than 30 years’ experience working at large multi-national pharmaceutical companies, including Roche and Amgen.
regulatory science for the development of global product development strategies. Mr. Kato achieved several successful globally-integrated programs involving Japan by leading global project teams through PMDA consultations and clarifying the regulatory requirements for Japanese submissions—including CTNs and Japanese NDAs—for global product development programs.
Tomomi Goto, RPh, MBA
Vice President, COO, Head of Product Development

Ms. Goto has over 20 years of global drug development and new product planning experience in the pharmaceutical industry. She is responsible for providing strategic project leadership for all IDEC product development services.
Prior to her current role, she led multiple R&D project teams in a variety of therapeutic areas and completed many successful marketing application authorizations (MAA). She has broad experience in multi-disciplinary global leadership positions, including as head of portfolio management and R&D project leader at Sanofi, global project manager at Takeda, and clinical project leader at Eli Lilly Japan.
She also holds an MBA from Waseda University and a B.S. in pharmaceutical science from Nagoya City University.
Eiji Aoyama, PhD
Director, Development Planning

Dr. Aoyama, who holds a PhD in Pharmaceutical Science, has more than 25 years of global drug development experience and is an expert in Non-clinical Development and Clinical Pharmacology (transitioning from pre-clinical to clinical phase). He gained his working experience at Takeda, and most recently at Eli Lilly in Japan, where he was a Team Leader of Eli Lilly’s Japan PKPD Group.
Dr. Aoyama’s experience covers a wide range of therapeutic areas including Diabetes, Cardiovascular, CNS, Oncology, and Immunology, with an in-depth understanding of the Japanese regulatory environment to support the design and implementation of required studies for regulatory approval in Japan.
Yasue Ishida, MBA
Director, Business Operations

Ms. Ishida is responsible for controlling all matters related to Finance, Human Resources and General Affairs at IDEC. Ms. Ishida has strong financial analysis and people management skills developed over 25 years’ experience in a global consumer goods company. Her contributions covered all financial areas, included development of financial strategy, budget and forecast management, accounting, tax, costing, business planning and analysis, total supply chain productivity improvement and agile project management.
Prior to her current role, she also set up a new legal entity for brand divestiture. She led the organization setup, people management, and Finance/Human Resources related process development as controller.
Mikio Ishizawa
Director, Product Planning & Commercial Planning

Mr. Ishizawa had been working over 30 years at multi-national pharma and biotech companies, including BMS, Amgen, MSD and UCB.
In particular, he has held leadership roles in product development projects of biologics for 20 years. He has experience in a broad range of professional areas including not only commercial, but also R&D, and played leading roles at start-up companies.
Always “thinking of a difference” in his mind, he is responsible for Commercial Strategy including Commercial Evaluation, Market Access and Marketing Strategy at IDEC.
He is a registered pharmacist (R.Ph.) and holds a Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration from Graduate School of Pharmacy at The University of Mississippi.
Takeshi Miyamoto
Director, CMC

Mr. Miyamoto has more than 25 years of experience in CMC-RA area of pharmaceutical development across a wide range of products including controlled release drugs and genetic recombinants. He has excellent expertise in reviewing and drafting CTD documents in both English and Japanese in order to fulfill Japanese regulatory requirements.
Prior to joining IDEC, he worked for Japanese subsidiaries of global pharmaceutical companies including BMS, Novo, Janssen, US-Merck, and Ferring as a CMC-RA expert or the head of CMC-RA section.
What makes IDEC different?
Non-Clinical
Our team is comprised of specialists in pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, and toxicity, and have been engaged in drug research and development for many years at both domestic and international pharmaceutical companies.
Clinical Team
Experienced in drug research and clinical development at domestic and international pharmaceutical companies, our Clinical team members have expertise in pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and statistics.
CMC Team
The IDEC team offers CMC expertise across biopharmaceuticals, blood products, human-derived hormone products, and chemically synthesized drugs.
Medical Writing Team
Across disciplines, the IDEC team is experienced and versed in the creation of clinical trial-related documents, application materials, consultation materials, and inquiry correspondence.
Development Compliance Team
With team members serving international pharmaceutical companies and engaged in drug development for more than 30 years, IDEC has experts ready with extensive experience in compliance.
In-House Medical Team
IDEC boasts a unique skill set within its own virtual walls: an in-house medical expert who obtained a license in both Germany and Japan and served as a clinical physician in a Japanese hospital.
Learn how our proven services and process can help you accelerate your product’s path to market.