Akira Sakurai

Akira Sakurai is Senior Scientist for Biopharmaceutical Quality at the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA). He manages the evaluation direction of biopharmaceutical quality including gene therapy products and the “Cartagena Act” regulation. He received Ph.D. in 2004 from Hokkaido University an M.S. degree in 2001, and a Bachelor of Pharmacy in 1998 from Kyoto University. His specialty is Virology, and he worked as a scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, National Research Institute of Police Science, and Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science until he joined PMDA in 2014. He is involved in the revision of ICH Q5A (Viral Safety Evaluation of Biotechnology Products) as deputy topic leader of MHLW/PMDA, Japan.