INCJ leads $11m investment in Japan blood biotech venture

According to Nikkei, SMBC Venture Capital, Mizuho Capital and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital also took part in the round.

Megakaryon was established in 2011 to apply the research being done by scientists at Kyoto University and the University of Tokyo. The company, which currently has a capitalization of JPY590 million, is registered at the University of Tokyo.

The firm's researchers plan to start clinical tests of blood platelets produced from human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells by 2016. Blood platelets help close wounds and are used in blood transfusions after surgical operations. They are also used to treat people with diseases that cause a decrease in the number of blood platelets.

Currently, the supply of blood platelets depends on blood donations but they cannot be stored for very long. With fears of future shortages as a result of Japan's aging population, the government has made regenerative medicine using iPS cells an important pillar of its growth strategy with plans to provide more support for research.

In June, a Healthy Ministry panel gave the go ahead for the world's first clinical research using iPS cells. The governmental scientific research institute Riken and the Foundation for Biomedical Research and Innovation had won approval for their work on using iPS cells for retinal regeneration.

INCJ has made several investments in Japan's biotech and pharmaceutical sectors. In April it joined Hibishin Capital investing JPY470 million in drug developer AQUA Therapeutics while in May it paid just under $10 million for 20% stake in PRISM Pharma.

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• Topics
• Healthcare
• Venture
• North Asia
• Japan
• Innovation Network Corp. of Japan (INCJ)
• Sumitomo Mitsui
• Mitsubishi UFJ Capital
• Mizuho Capital
• healthcare