SCAD (Stem Cell & Device Laboratory) / 幹細胞&デバイス研究所

At Japan Innovation Campus in Palo Alto, I gave a presentation to pharmaceutical companies and investors in the life science sector along with the following companies. Our Schwann Cell Therapy for Nerve Regeneration attracted a strong interest from attendees. I would like to express my gratitude to Ensanté and JETRO for hosting the event. iBody Inc., Physiologas Technologies / フィジオロガス・テクノロジーズ, PURMX Therapeutics,Inc., Fermelanta, Inc.

On Nov. 15, I gave a pitch outlining our business to the advisory board members of Bakar Labs and its affiliates in the life science field, along with members of JETRO's GSAP program. After this, I have received inquiries for collaboration and would be very honored if we could get a step forward to expand the business to US.   11月15日、Bakar Labsのアドバイザリーボードとライフサイエンス分野のアフィリエイトの方達に対して、JETROのGSAPプログラムのメンバーと共に、事業概要をピッチしました。 この後、連携へ向けて問合せが入っており、米国展開の足がかりになれば大変に光栄です。 iBody Inc., Physiologas Technologies / フィジオロガス・テクノロジーズ, PURMX Therapeutics,Inc., Fermelanta, Inc.

The Nikkei Biotech reported “Stem Cell & Device Laboratory (SCAD) Develops ES Cell-Derived Schwann Cells for Regenerative Medicine to Repair Nerves".   In this article, it is introduced that Schwann cells are being developed as a regenerative medicine product to treat damaged nerves. It also mentioned that injured nerves were restored and motor functions improved in animal experiments, and that SCAD plans to start physician-led clinical trials at Kyoto University in 2026 or later. The report included that plans for spinal cord injury follow the first indication of carpal tunnel syndrome, and that SCAD is targeting the expansion of indications to traumatic nerve injury and entrapment neuropathy other than carpal tunnel syndrome. https://lnkd.in/gKW7ijRT

SCAD has been selected for the BioTech / MedTech course of the Global Startup Acceleration Program (GSAP), a program by JETRO in cooperation with the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to support startups' overseas business development. With the support of Baker Labs an incubator at UC Berkeley, qb3 and Ensanté, we will prepare for business development in the US. Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) https://lnkd.in/gCqhmqtC

[ Collaborative presentation on nerve regeneration using Schwann cells. ] At the 35th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Peripheral Nerve Society Research to be held on September 6-7, we will make a presentation on “Production of Schwann cells that can be expected to promote nerve regeneration using human pluripotent stem cells”. In addition, a collaborative research partner, the Department of Orthopedics, Kyoto University Hospital, will make a presentation on the effects of transplantation of the SCAD’s Schwann cells on nerve regeneration in a rat peripheral nerve injury model. These research results will be the basic functionality and effectiveness for the development of treatments for various types of nerve damage using SCAD’s Schwann cells. https://lnkd.in/eybiPHbn

Collaborative research partners Dr. Kozue Murata and Dr. Hidetoshi Masumoto, research leaders at RIKEN BDR, presented their research at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2024. It reports the results of a Heart-on-a-Chip microdevice (HMD) developed in collaboration with SCAD to improve the throughput and stability of drug responsiveness evaluation of iPS cell-derived cardiac tissue. https://lnkd.in/demd_Nw6

A research article on our new method of inducing differentiation of iPS cells into Schwann cells has been published in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications (BBRC). We have confirmed that these mature Schwann cells produce nerve growth factor (NGF) and other factors that promote neurite outgrowth and regeneration. https://lnkd.in/gdYhaUyn

We are pleased to announce that we were selected as a grant recipient for the "Go-Tech Program 2024 (Growth-oriented R&D Support Program for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises)" by METI (the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry). The grant will support our R&D for the world's first regenerative medicine / cell therapy for damaged nerves using pluripotent stem cell-derived Schwann cells. https://scad-kyoto.com/en/ https://lnkd.in/g5_NRaYQ

At Bio International Convention 2024 held June 3-6 in San Diego, Kensuke Kato, CEO of SCAD participated in the Japan Innovation Luncheon (a pitch/exhibition event for US investors and life science businesses) as a spin-out event organized by the Japan government / JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization). SCAD was selected by the Japanese government/JETRO as one of the 13 leading bio-tech startups to participate in this event. https://scad-kyoto.com/en/ https://lnkd.in/g8XGWf6x https://lnkd.in/g-STMKz5