Newsletter

From KING SKYFRONT to the world - NanoMedical Innovation
September
2019

7

Vol.

COINS Social Implementation
Strategy towards Realization of
In-Body Hospitals
Contents
2

Talking about Theme 6

Establish COINS' achievements and networks in theregion and the world

Tomohiro ANZAI, Shintaro SENGOKU, Wataru TAKAHASHI

6

Cases of the advancing social implementation

Initiatives to develop an ultrasonic therapeutic system
combined with drugs and create medical devices throughsocial implementation and medical-engineering integration

Ken MASAMUNE, Yuki HORISE

Development of antibody/drug-conjugated micelles(ADCM)
Preparation of epirubicin-incorporated micelles conjugated with
anti-Tissue factor antibody
Yasuhiro MATSUMURA, Kenichiro NAITO

Veterinary medicine as a spontaneous model of human disease:social implementation of mesenchymal stem cell therapy

Hirohiko TSUZUKI

12 Listen to COINS’ Members
What we treasure

Takanori ICHIKI, Philip M.C. DAVY, Tetsuro YOSHIDA, Urara OTA

14 Activity Report

・12th General Meeting
・Topics
・We are actively using crowdfunding.
・COINS Seminar Report  Pick up!
・Editor’s noteTalking about Theme 6

Establish COINS' achievements andnetworks in the region and the world
Center of Open Innovation Network for Smart Health (COINS) Theme 6 is developing social infrastructure for the social implementationof the seeds developed in Themes 1-5. Dr. Tomohiro ANZAI, Assistant to Director-General, a member of Theme 6, Kawasaki Instituteof Industrial Promotion Innovation Center of NanoMedicine (iCONM), Dr. Shintaro SENGOKU, Assistant to Vice-Director, Associate
Professor, Department of Innovation Science, School of Environment and Society, Tokyo Institute of Technology and Wataru TAKAHASHI,
Assistant to Vice-Director /Sub Leader of Innovation Support Group talked about COINS past achievements and future ambitions.

The establishment of venturecompanies, management study
for social implemention, etc.
have been progressing■ Please tell us about your work and relationshipwith COINS.

Assistant to Director-General,
Kawasaki Institute of Industrial
Promotion Innovation Center of
NanoMedicine

Associate Professor, Department
of Innovation Science, School ofEnvironment and Society, Tokyo Instituteof Technology

He graduated Graduate Schoolof Frontier Sciences, The
University of Tokyo and obtained
PhD. (Life Science). He joinedin the Fast Track Initiative in
20 0 6 after working for Arthur
D. Little. In parallel to work as aventure capitalist, he served asa Project Associate Professor
at The University of Tokyo, avisiting associate professor at
Kyoto University, and the Cabinet
Secretariat Medical Innovation
Promotion Office. He was involved
i n t h e I n n o va t i o n C e n t e r o f
NanoMedicine (iCONM) from theplanning stage and is engaged inresearch and practice on social
implementation in COINS.

He graduated Graduate School of
Science, The University of Tokyoand obtained PhD (Science). After
working for McKinsey & Company,
Fast Track Initiative, Inc. and Kyoto
University, he became an associatep r o f e s s o r a t To k y o I n s t i t u t e o f
Technology since 2014. Currently,
based in King SkyFront, he works for
iCONM, Tokyo Institute of Technology
M I D L a nd “ D evelo pment of cellmanufacturing and processing system
for industrialization of regenerative
medicine”project of AMED, etc.

mously and economically. This is the difference between social
implementation and“social return”, which is sometimes regarded as temporary.
Takahashi: The social implementation that I experienced at
the company was a cycle of marketing researched and developed drugs, supplying them to patients, and then researchingand developing new drugs based on the benefits. When I

Leader and the leader of Theme 6. I am currently working as

came to iCONM, I found out that it started out as a venturea principal research scientist at the Kawasaki Institute of In-

to create employment and new business, and I am thrilled to

dustrial Promotion Innovation Center of NanoMedicine

be voluntarily involved.

(iCONM) as well. In Theme 6, in order to realize the innovacialization of seeds developed under Themes 1 to 5, we are

Shintaro SENGOKU

funds, able to demonstrate its value, and circulates autono-Anzai: I have been appointed as assistant to COINS Projecttions from COINS, in parallel with support for the commer-

Tomohiro ANZAI

done if it does not always depend on subsidies from public

working to develop the social infrastructure to advance eachprocess for "social implementation", such as technology development, industry-academia collaboration, clinical development,commercialization, and social deployment, etc. (Figure 1)
Sengoku: I am in charge of education and research of Management of Technology (MOT) and Innovation Science at Tokyo Institute of Technology and I belong to Theme 6 at
COINS. Now, I believe that it is my fate to be in King SkyFront because the research bases of the three projects, which
are COINS, IT drug discovery from medium molecular-weightmolecules where the Tokyo Institute of Technology and Kawasaki City collaborate on, and regenerative medicine that I
worked on when I was working in Kyoto University, are all located at King SkyFront.
Takahashi: I was dispatch from Asahi Kasei Pharma to
iCONM in 2017. I am using my experience in pharmaceutical■ What kind of activities are you involved in, andwhat a re t h e results? Are t h e re a ny social
implementation features that are unique to COINS
and King SkyFront?
Anzai: In the past, the research and development of medicine
were based on the idea of“if you put it on the market, it will
be sold widely”. However, the technology elements have diversified, and the knowledge system is becoming more complex
now. Interdisciplinary integration and industry-government-academia collaboration are becoming more important. It is crucial to create evaluation systems, regulations, and even themarket itself to become the first runner in the world. In otherwords, we need to open up an unexplored land. Having that inmind from the start, we have created a research support
team consisting of those with experience working in the private sector. Two venture companies have been createdthrough the COINS research , each of which has raised overresearch and R&D strategy.

500 million yen and hired more than ten researchers. Braizon■ What exactly does“social implementation”
mean?

ton, USA, and has gained a foothold for entering the global

Therapeutics now owns a research facility in LabCentral, Bosmarket. AccuRNA is also planning to start a clinical trial for
its nanomachine that has a payload of nucleic acid drugs. I

Anzai: The term“social return”was used in the Funding

think that the movement toward social implementation has

Program for world-Leading Innovative R&D on Science andbeen progressing beyond our initial assumptions.

Technology (FIRST) program“Nanobio First”, the predeces-

Sengoku: What we are particular about is collaboration man-sor program of COINS, and the goal of academia was to re-agement. For example, at the start, we did not have the nano-turn to society through research and development and indus-

science and nanotechnology system in the interdisciplinaryt r y- a c adem i a - g over n ment c o l l ab or at ion , but “s o c i a l
implementation”has been used since around 2010, hasn’t it?
The aim is not only to produce results but also to ensure ef-

Figure 1

Road Map of social implementation and goal of Theme 6

Wataru TAKAHASHI

Assistant to Vice-Director, Kawasaki Instituteof Industrial Promotion Innovation Center of
NanoMedicine
Sub Leader of Innovation Support GroupHe graduated Graduate School of Science,
Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1985
and obtained MA . He joined in Asahi
Kasei Corporation in the same year. After
working as a synthetic chemistry research
director, a director of intellectual property
department and a research promotion
director at Asahi Kasei Pharma, currently
he is working at iCONM from November
2017.

2 | NanoSky VOL.07 SEPTEMBER 2019

Invention● Innovation
management● Intellectual
property support

Regulatory
aspects● Regulatory
Science● Form clinicall
foundation

Socialaspects● Medical economic
evaluation● Needs verification

Business● Business planning● Industry-Academia
collaboration● venture

Innovation

Social Impleentation

Based on the individual development cases, study the ideal social infrastructure
towards the social implementation of the outcomes, and practice to improve● Venture ／Business support

Collaboration and support at each stage such as R&D with Theme 1 – 5 and realization etc.

fectiveness and safety of the technology, create medical andmarket values, as well as having the products that can be“implemented socially”only when the public widely uses it.
As a research project from the university, the challenges are
getting tougher. Determining whether research seeds will really be used in the marketplace is where universities havebeen weak at. Now they say that the research and development should be promoted in consideration of the creation ofmarket value, so it became necessary for a team like Theme 6
to support the research promotion, market development, andcommercialization in a bird's eye view.
Sengoku: The word implementation originally means to“full”
or“fulfillment”. In other words, we need things that properly
fulfill the needs of society and established as part of the functions. It can be said that the social implementation has been

NanoSky VOL.07 SEPTEMBER 2019

|3

TALK
ant to develop the underlying multi-field technologies, such as
medical equipment and healthcare. We are gathering them.
This place has the potential to become the core of innovation.
Anzai: Currently, the collaboration inside and outside the basehas been progressing, but as Dr. Sengoku said, the main issue
is to gain the understanding and support from the citizens of
Kawasaki and develop their sense of ownership.
Takahashi: As an effort to improve our visibility to the citizens, we have been quite active sending out Twitter and Facebook posts since 2018. We can see that many people arewatching us from the number of Facebook views. We also
conduct crowdfunding to raise funds to advance the Drug Delivery System (DDS) for cancer and intractable diseases. The
King SkyFront Network Council was established in 2018, andthe Director General of iCONM, Dr. Kazunori Kataoka was
appointed as Vice Chairman and has started various activities. Every year, we hold a“summer science event”that has
collaboration, and the project started just as a result of the fusion of various disciplines. With so many different cultures,
technical terms, communication methods, and research methods, sophisticated management is necessary for everyone towork together in a new direction. Industry-government-academia collaboration is also an important aspect. As for the regional collaboration, King SkyFront provides support from Kawasaki City, a city designated by government ordinance.
When this collaboration comes to the point where the citizensof Kawasaki understand, agree, and cooperate with King SkyFront, we will be able to say that we have achieved a regional
collaboration. Recently, many people have been interested ininternational collaboration, and it is important to plan how we
can implement this inter-regional collaboration in this privileged location with Haneda Airport nearby, and as symbolized
by the area’s name, King SkyFront. Such connections cannot
be divided into parts, and it is interesting to design and manage them together as a whole.
Anzai: To put it somewhat radically, COINS, iCONM, andKing SkyFront consider the existing universities as negative
case studies. For example, we are trying to destroy the wallsthat hinder research collaboration within the university, suchas vertical division and frictions, by organizing researchteams, designing and specifying buildings, operating experimental facilities, and creating new industry-government-academia collaboration regulations. At the beginning of iCONM,
there were almost no buildings around us, and some people
felt like working on a small remote island. However, it was important to have the location a little far from the city center tofoster a strong sense of unity with the startup members. Before COINS, the University of Tokyo was the central base,been visited by more than 2,500 participants, mainly children.
This council acts as the neighborhood association of King SkyFront. The number of companies and government agencies inKing SkyFront, which used to be considered as a place to conduct mysterious experiments, has been increasing, and our
network has expanded greatly.
Sengoku: There is a pub at Shin-Kawasaki that has been going to for about two years, and the owner once asked me,“Are you involved with King SkyFront? I heard that it’s going to be big with companies such as PeptiDream opening
their offices there.”I explained that we are creating a new industry at the site of an automobile factory. The owner andother customers were interested in King SkyFront. There are
SNS and communication at pub, so I think it is better tospread it gradually.
Anzai: What I have been feeling since when I was involved inpromoting King SkyFront to various companies, we have progressed from the impression of being on a“remote island”toa place with large-enough land, improved access from the station and airport, and equipped to do animal experiments. We
have become a vibrant place with a highly collaborative culture. I believe that the people working here, and all citizens
will be proud if one of our researchers can win a Nobel Prize.
Sengoku: Tonomachi once succeeded in attracting a car factory. Kawasaki City became confident from such an intense
success experience and is now taking on new challenges. We
are equipped with world-class institutions and companies, including the first animal testing laboratory in Kawasaki City,
the National Institute of Health Sciences, the university labo-

Figure 2Innovation 2.0

which was virtually connected to other research bases.
on-site under the one roof.
the country’s new growth strategy, and there are also institutions of Kawasaki City and Kanagawa Prefecture. It is also
close to Tokyo and Fujisawa City, which has a Bio Park. The
bridge that connects this area with Haneda Airport is sched-

4 | NanoSky VOL.07 SEPTEMBER 2019

Anzai: A place that used to be glittering in the past often becomes a lonely landscape after 30 years. So, the next issue
that we have to tackle is how to design a base to nurture thenext generation of entrepreneurs and young researchers andmaintain the sustainability of the entire King SkyFront. To
achieve this, together with promoting the regional metabolism, we believe that it is necessary to leave the conventional
open innovation 1.0, where a base attracts and enlists excellent researchers and technology seeds from outside, and develop and evolve to open innovation 2.0 that has a networking
mechanism among the bases in King SkyFront and amongclusters in the region, where human resources, funding sources, and seeds people can enter and exit easily (Figure 2).
Sengoku: What we do not have right now are art and entertainment. Boston, which we talked about earlier, has researchand education center for art, including the Berklee College ofMusic and the Contemporary Art Museum, both of which
contribute to the revitalization of the region. I believe that we
can use the advantages of our location in the Tokyo metropolitan area to explore collaborations with the surrounding art
universities, art museums, and local art-related events.

whether he is aiming for Koshien, the National Professional
Baseball(NPB) in Japan, or the Major League Baseball(MLB).
I would like to work as a“disliked role”to mentor researchers and innovators so that they can see the business from ahigh perspective and encourage them.
Sengoku: As a faculty member, I would like to cultivate excellent researchers and innovators and contribute in a waythat is closely related to King SkyFront. The word nurturing
is somewhat impertinent and can be interpreted to develop an
environment that needs to be nurtured. iCONM has alreadyattracted many overseas researchers, and I want to createeven more places like it. Fortunately, I came here at an excellent time, and I have many connections, so I hope I can observe and see how this place develops for the next 20 years
and talk about history. Not only by writing papers, but I also
want to talk about it in a pub.
Takahashi: I will be retired soon, so as my final task, I would
like to focus on coordination with the King SkyFront and other bases. I don't think this is a closed organization such as auniversity or a company, so I expect that we can do it.

■ Thank you.
( Interviewer：Science Writer Ayumi KOJIMA )I want to promote the support
for global businesses, develop
an environment for people togrow and collaboration within
and outside the base.

Anzai: I would like to fully support business development inInternal search
社内探索型
社内探索型
type

閉鎖型イノベーション
閉鎖型イノベーション
社内探索型
Enclosedinnovation
閉鎖型イノベーション
Closedinnovation
Closedinnovation

Closed innovation
ClosedInnovation

External
外部導入型
introduction
type
外部導入型
コラボ型イノベーション
コラボ型イノベーション
Collaborative
外部導入型 styleinnovation
コラボ型イノベーションOpeninnovationOpen
innovation1.0
1.0

Open
Innovation 1.0
Open innovation 1.0

エコシステム型
Ecosystem
type
エコシステム型
ネットワーク型のネットワーク型のエコシステム型
Network
type
有機型イノベーション
有機型イノベーション
ネットワーク型のOrganic
innovationOpen
innovationOpen
innovation2.0
2.0
有機型イノベーション((イノベーションネットワーク
イノベーションネットワーク

Open
Innovation 2.0
Open innovation 2.0

エコシステムエコシステム))( イノベーションネットワーク
エコシステム )uled to be completed next year, in 2020. In order to realize“in-body hospitals”using nanomachines in 2045, it is import-

would like to study how we can attract people.

■ Please tell us about your future ambitions.

COINS was built based on the concept of advancing research
Takahashi: King SkyFront designated as a special zone underratories, and many industry-leading venture companies. I

European Commission (2013). Open Innovation 2013 Yearbook

the global market to create examples of social implementationthat can demonstrate our global presence. Next, I want to further promote networking of stakeholders, attract new companies and entrepreneurs, and develop social implementation research in order to attract people who take risks and aim forcommercialization over their lives. For example, I think thathow far a player in high-school baseball can go depends on

NanoSky VOL.07 SEPTEMBER 2019|5

Topics

1

Cases of the advancing social implementation
Theme 6

Figure 1. Process of sonodynamic therapy (SDT)

Initiatives to develop an ultrasonic therapeutic
system combined with drugs and to create
medical devices through social implementationand medical-engineering integration
Our team is promoting the research on sonodynamic therapy (SDT) *1 that combines nanomachine tumor
accumulation and focused ultrasound targeting . This study embodies the "concept-driven" to minimize the doseof drugs and suppresses irradiation energy as much as possible and perform short-time minimally invasive
treatments that do not damage the body. We believe that fostering a medical-engineering integration system iscrucial for the social implementation of such new devices for medical treatment.

Ken MASAMUNE

Yuki HORISE

P r ofe s s o r, I n s tit u te of A d va n c e dBiomedical Engineering and Science,
Tokyo Women’s Medical University

Project Professor, Institute of Advanced
Biomedical Engineering and Science,
Tokyo Women’s Medical University

One of the main objectives of medical device
development is to ensure a safe and effective
treatment that imposes the minimum burden on thepatients. As the Theme 5 of COINS, our team is
promoting research on sonodynamic therapy (SDT),
which combines the tumor accumulation function of
nano-micelles and the targeting function of focusedultrasound (Figure 1). After confirming that thetreatment is safe on pet dogs with spontaneous tumors(Figure 2) [1], we have conducted clinical trials on 12
patients with unresectable intractable cancers(pancreatic cancer and biliary tract cancer) (Figure 3)[2]. Currently, to implement this treatment in society,
we are evaluating the plans of Investigator-initiatedclinical trials from various perspectives and exploring
to implement them through an industry-academia
collaboration system. At the same time, we are
studying the mechanism of action of SDT to clarify the
combined effects of nanomachines and ultrasound [3].
This SDT research project is only possible with theknowledge and actions of various medical professionals
and engineers such as nanomachines, together with
High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) treatment
system with new energy output, as well as ultrasonictomography and a robot positioning HIFU irradiation.
So far, we have advanced from the stage of a basic
exploratory experiment to the evaluation by pet dogs
with spontaneous tumors and clinical research. Pleaserefer to previous reports [4] for the technical aspects;
here we describe the creation of a medical-engineering
integration system that is an important social element.
Most studies on the development of medical devices
so far have focused on “needs-driven” developments tomeet the local needs of currently available treatments.
Over the past few years, initiatives such as Stanford
6 | NanoSky VOL.07 SEPTEMBER 2019

Biodesign, which studies and implements needs-driven
development methodologies, have been attracting
much attention. However, research and development
activities in one laboratory and one company are basedon technology seeds, and many Japanese companies
with top-level technology seeds are often limited tomeet the medical needs and introduce their optimal
seeds. Our research team invites and integrates humanresources from various fields in medicine andengineering to create a medical and engineering
integration system that promotes the foundation ofresearch to realize open innovation that addresses new
proposals on medical treatments and solves various
prevailing issues. Figure 4 shows an example of a
discussion among companies, surgeons, andengineering researchers in the project of domestic
medical device creation infrastructure development
supported by AMED that our research team isworking on.
SDT embodies concept-driven development whichaims to realize a minimally invasive treatment that isfriendly to the human body by reducing the dose ofdrugs through an efficient DDS and reducing theirradiation energy using HIFU. Clinicians, pharmacists,
researchers of HIFU irradiation research, developersof robots controlling irradiation focus, and animaltreatment specialists need to come and work together.
At the same time, we are building a business strategy
plan that includes obtaining public approval for thesocial implementation and insurance coverage. Also,
more costs are needed for higher phases of clinical
trials after safety confirmation by early-phase clinical
trials, and we are currently seeking any social
implementations including venture companies.

Administration of
ノマシン投与1. ナ
nanomachines

HIFU照射2. HIFUradiation
Production of reactive
活性酸素産生oxygen species
Cancericidal
殺癌作用effect

癌根治of cancer
3. CureRepeated treatment

必要に応じて繰返しas needed (unlike
radiotherapy,
HIFU
治療（放射線と異なり
can be delivered
HIFUは何度でもmultiple times)
照射可能）

Accumulated in
癌細胞に集積the cancer cells（試作機）
Figure 2. Japanese-made HIFU 国産HIF照射システム
irradiation system (prototype)
andと疾患動物治療
treatment of pet dogs with spontaneous tumors

Prototype of HIFU irradiation system

Treatment scene

Example of HIFU treatment of a small pet dog

Figure 3. Clinical trial using SDT(Treatment on a patient with intractable
cancer)Figure 4. Cabinet Office Japan Agency for Medical Researchand Development (AMED)“Infrastructure Development Project
for the Creation of Medical Device in Japan”

Glossary＊1 SDT（Sonodynamic Therapy）
A new treatment method for minimally invasive treatment of the deep part of the body by combination of tumor accumulation of drugs and tumor targeting by focused ultrasound.

References
1. Yuki HORISE, Masanori MAEDA, Yoshiyuki KONISHI, Jun OKAMOTO, Soko
IKUTA, Yoshiharu OKAMOTO, Hiroshi ISHII, Shin YOSHIZAWA, Shinichiro
UMEMURA, Tsuyoshi UEYAMA, Satoshi TAMANO, Atsushi SOFUNI,
Kazuhisa TAKEMAE, Ken MASAMUNE, Hiroshi ISEKI, Nobuhiro NISHIYAMA,
Kazunori KATAOKA, Yoshihiro MURAGAKI. Sonodynamic Therapy with
Anticancer Micelles and High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound in Treatment ofCanine Cancer, Frontiers in pharmacology, vol.10, p.545 (2019)
2. Atsushi SOFUNI, Yoshihiro MURAGAKI, Mitsuru FUJITA, Yasutsugu ASAI,
Jun OKAMOTO, Yoshiyuki KONISHI, Yuki HORISE, Shin YOSHIZAWA,
Shinichiro UMEMURA, Takao ITOI. Focused ultrasound and sonodynamic

therapy for unresectable intractable cancer, Ultrasound Medical Society,Vol.45, S186, 2018
3. Kazuhisa TAKEMAE, Yuki HORISE Jun OKAMOTO, Ken MASAMUNE,
Yoshihiro MURAGAKI. Function of Epirubicin-Conjugated Polymeric Micellesin Sonodynamic Therapy, Frontiers in pharmacology, vol.10, p.546 (2019)
4. Yoshiyuki KONISHI, Kazuhisa TAKEMAE, Study on the practical applicationof sonodynamic treatment with the concurrent use of Nanomachines andultrasound to actualize minimally invasive cancer treatment，NanoSky, Vol.05,
p.8-9 (2018)

NanoSky VOL.07 SEPTEMBER 2019|7

Topics2

Cases of the advancing social implementation
Theme 6

Figure 1. Anti-cancer agent conjugated micelles (ADCM)

Development of antibody/drug-conjugated micelles(ADCM)
Preparation of epirubicin-incorporated micelles conjugatedwith anti-Tissue factor antibody＊1

An anticancer drug (Epirubicin) is encapsulated inside in the inner core of the micelles, and antibody molecules
are conjugated to the outer surface of the micelles.

ADCM is a next-generation micelle agent with an antibody that targets cancer cells added onto the surface ofpolymer micelles. Due to this property, the system is expected to have higher efficacy and safety than the firstgeneration micelle formulation that is currently in clinical development. So far, we have completed the formulation
design and confirmed the efficacy of adding antibodies onto the micelle surface. In the next stage, we will identify thetypes of cancer that can be treated most effectively using human patient-derived cancer tissue transplantation model(PDX model), and proceed with the preparation of the studies that are essential for the start of clinical trials.

Antibody

Epirubicin

Yasuhiro MATSUMURA

Kenichiro NAITO

Head of Investigative Treatment Division
Nayional Cancer Center Exploratory Oncology
Research & Clinical Trial CenterM a n a g e r, B u s i n e s s D e v e l o p m e n t
NanoCarrier Co., Ltd.

Figure 2. Anti-tumor effects of anti-TF antibody-conjugated Epirubicin micelles (ADCM)
Anti-tumor effect in a gastric cancer model with high-level expression of TF. The solid green line represents
the change in tumor volume over time during the administration of the first generation Epirubicin-containing
micelles. Comparatively, ADCM, which is a next-generation micelle indicated by a solid red line, has asignificantly enhanced anti-tumor effect.
Administration()
Administration()

2,500 2,500

Tumor volume

TF expression is correlated to a poorer prognosis.
Targeting this molecule is expected to be useful forthe treatment of refractory cancer. So far, we havecompleted the formulation design, and it has become
possible to produce the antibodies with sufficientquality for use in clinical trials for antibody-added
micelles. Figure 2 confirms that this ADCM system
has improved efficacy as a result of antibody addition
in a transplant model of a human gastric cancer cellline that highly expresses TF. The solid green line
shows the results of the administration of Epirubicin
micelles only. In contrast, antibody added Epirubicin
micelles, indicated by the solid red line, clearly showed
improved antitumor effects, including a decrease intumor volume.
In the next stage, we plan to use a human patientderived cancer tissue transplant model (PDX model).
The PDX model is an abbreviation of Patient-Derived
Xenograft, which is the transplantation of a patient’s
tumor tissue into an immunodeficient mouse toreproduce a tumor in the mouse. Compared to the Cellline-Derived Xenograft (CDX) model, in which a cancer
cell line is transplanted into an immunodeficient mouse,
the PDX model has a higher similarity to theconstruction of human clinical cancer, such as theconstruction of cancer stroma. Thus, PDX results are
more likely to reflect the clinical results than those of
CDX. We plan to identify the types of cancer that canbe treated most effectively and to proceed with the
preparation of the necessary tests for clinical trials.

Tumor volume

Polymeric micelle preparations containing anticancer
drugs circulate in the blood while bringing drugs andaccumulate in cancer tissues and are therefore
expected to improve the effectiveness and safety ofthe drugs, are under clinical development. NC-6300(Epirubicin micelle), is one of them and is currently
under Phase I/II clinical trial in the United States,
conducted by NanoCarrier. In the Phase I part of thetrial, Epirubicin-specific nausea/vomiting andmyelotoxicity were observed. However, the trial also
confirmed the decreased frequency of occurrence anddecreased severity, and no clinically significant decline
in cardiac functions has been observed even after longterm administrations. In terms of efficacy, 2 out of 2
cases of angiosarcoma enrolled in this study showed apartial response that resulted in a reduced tumor
volume to 50% or less. A Phase II part plan for NC6300 is currently being drafted.
We are now developing ADCM, a next-generation
micelle preparation that adds antibodies targetingcancer cells onto the surface of micelles to further
improve the ability of this polymeric micelle
preparation to target cancer cells and achieve higher
efficacy and safety (Figure 1). The Tissue Factor (TF)
is selected as the target for antibodies added to the
ADCM. TF is a target molecule that is overexpressedin many types of cancer since it is expressed not only
in cancer cells but also in the tumor stroma, it isconsidered a promising target for antibodies. Also, it
has been reported that in many types of cancer, higher

2,000

1,500

1,000

(mm³)
(mm³)
500

0

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

1 03

5

1

9

7

3

5

11

7

9

13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 (Day)11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29

31 (Day)

Untreated group

Epirubicin at 10 mg/kg

Untreated group
Epirubicin-conjugated micelles at 15 mg/kg

Epirubicin at 10 mg/kg
Anti-TF antibody-added Epirubicin-conjugatedmicelles at 15 mg/kg
Anti-TF antibody-added Epirubicin-conjugatedmicelles at 15 mg/kg

Epirubicin-conjugated micelles at 15 mg/kg

Glossary＊1 Antibody/drug-conjugated micelles(ADCM)
The micelle inner core contains an anticancer drug, and an antibody is added to the micelle outer shell to improve cancer directivity. ADCM stands for Antibody / Drug
Conjugated Micelle.

8 | NanoSky VOL.07 SEPTEMBER 2019

NanoSky VOL.07 SEPTEMBER 2019|9

Topics

3

Cases of the advancing social implementation
Theme 6

Veterinary medicine as a spontaneous modelof human disease: social implementation ofmesenchymal stem cell therapy

Figure 1.
Animal Regenerative
Medicine Center Hospital

Animal Regenerative Medicine Center Hospital
Medical department

Cell Processing Center (CPC)①Cell Processing Facility (CPF)

In recent years, the movement to integrate humans and animals from a medical point of view with infectious diseases
as the focus has been progressing at a global level. Under such circumstances, we believe that the same applies to
cutting-edge medicine, and we are working on the shaping and implementation of social systems of regenerative
medicine in veterinary medicine. A laboratory and hospital have been formed as an integrated base that targets pets
living in the same environment as humans and provides regenerative medical treatment options.

診療機能

Cells are cultured with equipment, standards, and criteria that meetthe standards of human regenerative medicine. Establishment of aquality assurance system.

②Research facilities
Clinical development function (lab)Hirohiko TSUZUKI
Chief Scientist,
Bioscience & Engineering Laboratory
FUJIFILM Corporation

In 2016, Fujifilm and Anicom Holdings (hereafter“Anicom”), a major pet insurance company, established
Celltrust Animal Therapeutics Co., Ltd. (hereinafter“Celltrust”) to develop and provide innovative andadvanced medical technologies and services centeredon regenerative medicine in the field of advanced
veterinary care.
Celltrust has advanced production and quality
control technologies that have been cultivated in thefield of photographic film, technologies related toregenerative medicine, diagnostic imaging technology,
analysis technology of blood chemical components,
animal hospital network belonging to Anicom, as wellas electronic medical record system, and by combining
various types of medical information, the company isdeveloping and commercializing innovative andadvanced medical technologies and services centeredon regenerative medicine in the field of advanced
veterinary care. Furthermore, to disseminate thepractical technologies and services, the company aims
to build a new social system for advanced veterinary
care through collaboration projects together withanimal hospitals and pet insurance. To achieve thisgoal, the company established the Animal Regenerative
Medicine Center Hospital (hereinafter “Center
Hospital”) in Yokohama in 2016. (Figure 1)
It can be said that pets are part of the family, and in
the aging society, there has been much attention on
how dementia can be suppressed through contact withpets. Along with the increase in the number of singleperson households, family and partner pets areimportant members of society.
Based on the concept of One World One Health,there has been a global movement to capture humanand animal medical care as one. At this moment,
infectious diseases are the main focus. However, in thenear future, cutting-edge medicine will become an
10 | NanoSky VOL.07 SEPTEMBER 2019

important field that can exist continuously as medicalcare for pets living in the same environment as
humans. Engaging in the treatment of pets sufferingfrom spontaneous occurrence rather than diseaseanimal models will not only lead to the treatment ofpets but will also be an effective study as a preliminary
step in studies on human medical care. We areworking to make this project a leading example in thesocial implementation of “In-body hospitals” hospitals.
Currently, Celltrus prioritizes the cell quality
assurance in the practical application and disseminationof treatments using mesenchymal stem cells＊1(hereinafter MSC) in veterinary medicine and also
working on the construction of a “new social system”
that works in conjunction with various elements, suchas accumulating scientific evidence, guaranteeing celltransport, treatment training, sharing of medical data,
and utilization of private medical insurance. The
Center Hospital has been developing canine fat-derived
MSC treatment (Figure 2) and has already started theclinical medical treatment for keratoconjunctivitis sicca
and chronic enteropathy (Figure 3). These diseases are
immune-mediated, and MSCs are thought to cure thedisease by suppressing the excessive response of theimmune system. The company is also conducting
clinical research on disc herniation, fractures, andarthritis. The use of MSC is expected to become a celltherapy treatment from the perspective of immune
control, etc. It has also been approved in Japan as a
product of regenerative medicine for the treatment ofgraft-versus-host disease (GVHD). However, because
the mechanism of action of MSC is not fully
understood, there are only a limited number ofapproved regenerative medicine products. We would
like to demonstrate the effectiveness of this treatment
against diseases in dogs, which may lead to the spreadof MSC-based cell therapy in humans.

It is assumed that cells will be administeredin a timely manner in the center s hospital.

A laboratory facility for clinical development of advanced medicine
has also been established.

Figure 2.
Image of MSC (stem cell therapy)

Tissue collection

Cell Culture

Administration to sick or
injured animals

Mesenchymal
stem cells

Treating illness using therepair function andself-healing ability

Figure 3. Diseases under development (the red frame shows the actual medical treatment)
Immune-Mediated (IMHA)
Hemolytic Anemia

Keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS)

Chronic Enteropathy (CE)

Refractory/ standard treatment responsivenessrefractory/ standard treatment responsiveness

Cell type: cMSC

Cell type: cMSC

Cell type: cMSC

Intervertebral hernia

Arthritis

Bone fracture

Cell type: cMSC

Cell type: cMSC

Cell type: cMSC CellSaic

Glossary＊1 Mesenchymal Stem Cell (MSC)
Stem cells that can be differentiated into three germ layers that can be collected from adipose tissue, bone marrow, etc. Due to its functions such as immune control and bloodvessel induction, it is expected to be a cell for regenerative medicine.

NanoSky VOL.07 SEPTEMBER 2019| 11

Listen to

COINS'
Members

Takanori ICHIKI
Research and development of new
diagnostic equipment that holds the key topreventive medicine by making full use of
nanotechnology (precision microfabrication
technology)

F ing and precision machine manufacturacilities for semiconductor manufactur-

ing, which would not be normally achievablefrom the perspective of medical care, havebeen set up on the first floor of the Innovation
Center of NanoMedicine (iCONM). Here, research is underway to develop innovative preventive diagnostic devices through the use of
microfabrication technology (nanotechnology).
Microfabrication in the semiconductor field isan advanced science and technology thatenables the functions of mainframe computers, which were once only available to research institutions and large companies, to be
stored in personal computers and smartphones. At the COINS project, with the goal

Philip M.C. DAVY

Professor, Department of Materials Engineering, Graduate
School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
Founder/Director, iXstream

Aiming for a new medical and healthcare
business through exosome technologyof reducing medical costs and extending
healthy life expectancy by measuring exosomes and analyzing their inclusions (miRNA), we have been conducting research anddeveloping nanoparticle analyzers and rapid
cancer diagnostic devices using miRNA as abiomarker. Thanks to the use of iCONM's microfabrication facilities, we have confirmed
the feasibility of innovative ideas in a shortperiod of time while making actual prototypes,
and our R&D has been progressing smoothly.
At the end of last year (2018), we establisheda venture company, iXstreame. The aim is toimplement COINS project research results insociety and create technologies and services
that are useful for new healthcare, diagnosis,

eveloping new drugs to treat brain and spinal

very difficult, but it is especially important in an aging
society. Pharmaceutical companies have made large
R&D investments in drug discovery in this area. However, very few of these programs lead to successfully
approved drugs, which significantly increases the expense to Pharma companies and patients. The
blood-brain barrier (BBB), the biological barrier between blood and brain, is literally a major barrier tothe development of new drugs for nervous systemdisorders.
I joined Braizon Therapeutics, Inc. in April 2018.
Around that time, I had the opportunity to learn about
the research by members of the Innovation Center of
NanoMedicine and the COINS research network.

12 | NanoSky VOL.07 SEPTEMBER 2019and medical treatment. Although I have toswitch my mind from daily research and education at universities to more practical activities, including studying business plans, the40-minute drive from Tokyo to iCONM on the
Metropolitan Expressway is a good time toswitch my mind every day.

With his favorite car

Tetsuo YOSHIDA

The fascinating developments in challenging areas
were very impressive. The technology for deliveringdrugs to the brain beyond the BBB, developed bymembers of COINS, was incredible!
Polymer micelle nanoparticles enable many different new types of medicine to be designed, such as
biological medicine that normally cannot enter thebrain. Combining glucose-ligand nanoparticles withglycemic control delivers drugs specifically and effectively to the brain, this is a very elegant solution to adifficult problem. Pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies are naturally starting to pay agreat deal of attention to this innovative technology
to bring their new drugs to the brain. Based on thistechnology, Braizon has the opportunity to develop
new drugs for nervous system diseases for which

CSO / Director, Research Department,
AccuRne, Inc.

Re-challenging a long-standing dream of “generating
medicine from genes” in a venture company
A student in the Showa era, I was fascinatedbout 35 years ago, as a undergraduate

by the beauty of molecular biology and started
my scientific life by studying cancer genes, which
was an exciting topic. In the early Heisei era,
when I entered a pharmaceutical company to apply molecular biology to drug discovery, I had adream to make drugs from genes.
For 26 years, I was blessed with opportunities
to engage in various drug discovery projects using state-of-the-art technologies, such as genome
science, bioinformatics, and RNAi. However, unfortunately, I have not been able to develop medicines with my own hands due to my lack of abilities. Last year in September, I joined AccuRna
Inc., a COINS venture company, and had the op-

portunity to engage in research aimed at nucleic
acid medicine and mRNA medicine using the
DDS developed by Dr. Kataoka, the COINS Research Leader, as the core technology. When I
first moved to a venture company, I felt that I had
been protected by the organization so far and got
somewhat spoiled. In venture company, speed iseverything. Without the ability to make decisions
quickly, it is not possible to survive in such a fastpaced and competitive industry. Because of that,each person has massive authority and responsibility, and the pressure is strong. Still, the senseof achievement at the time of success is also
(supposedly) highly rewarding. The practical application of nucleic acid medicine and mRNA
medicine is the realization of my long-standing

Urara OTA

Director, Business Development
Braizon Therapeutics, Inc.

Improve lives with innovation andpartnership
D cord (central nervous system) disorders is

What w e treasure

We aim to change lives around the world withpowerful innovations in central nervous system
drug delivery technology.

treatment has not been possible to date.
We are confident that Braizon will be able to improve
the lives of many people in the future with strong
partnerships and a great team.

Members of Team Braizon in spring 2019

Research on better health and disease
treatment centered on ALA from theviewpoint of biochemistry and analyticalchemistry.

D levulinic acid) is? ALA is a naturalo you know what ALA (5-amino-

ly-occurring amino acid that can be foundin various foods and is produced daily inour bodies.
ALA is metabolized into porphyrin in
the body, which then forms heme withiron. Heme plays essential roles in thehuman body, such as energy production.
Recent studies have also reported thebeneficial effects of ingesting ALA withiron in enhancing mitochondrial functions.
I learned about ALA when I was in alaboratory that researched a genetic disease called porphyria. In this disease, theprocess of metabolizing ALA to heme is

We conduct research aiming the realization of
nucleic acid medicine and mRNA with COINS's
DDS technology.

dream of“making genes into drugs”. It is noteasy to engage in the rapidly-progressing worldand bring out our achievements to the world.
Nonetheless, with the satisfaction of being given
a new challenge in this Reiwa era, while competing with rivals
a ro u n d t h eworld, I would
like to work
hard every
day together
with great colleagues that I
have made.
The Eagle Bar in Cambridge, where
the DNA double helix was born.

Manager, Kawasaki Research Institute,
Division of Pharmaceutical Research,
SBI Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd.

Toward a new stage with unrestrained
ideas
genetically inhibited, causing metabolites
such as porphyrins to accumulate in the
body. Porphyrin accumulation causes
damage to the skin and the like. ALA is
known as a marker for diagnosing abnormal heme metabolism, and people had
been looking at ALA based on the perspective that its level must remain low inthe body. When it was shown that the administration of ALA in a subject with normal heme metabolism could improvehealth, I felt that the scales have fallenfrom my eyes. Looking at things one-sidedly will not lead to new ideas, and it wasa valuable experience to realize that a
multifaceted perspective and flexible

thinking are crucial in challenging ourselves to give the best efforts. Afterward,
I have been blessed with knowing manydifferent people, and I have been involvedin the work of delivering ALA in health,cosmetics, and pharmaceutical products
to the world. I would like to make the bestuse of myexperiences
and work towards the realiz atio n of
this project
as soon as
possible.
Science event from last year

NanoSky VOL.07 SEPTEMBER 2019

| 13

ACTIVITY REPORT

Activity Report

12th General Meeting ～In the phase III, harvesting results and sowing for the future ～Clarivate Analytics (Web of Science) meaning that research ranks among the top 1% mostcited works in the corresponding field.
◦11.30-12.1. 2018【Activity】1st COI Retreat in Kawasaki was held.

Friday, June 14, 2019, 12th COINS General Meeting washeld at the main conference room at Life Science &Environment Center (LiSE). We have entered the final phase III
of COI (fiscal 2019-2021) this year, and along with promotionof social implementation, strengthen efforts for post-COI are
expected. In this general meeting, each institution presented its
goals and plans towards the end of COI based on the results
achieved up to date and talked about the world of 2045 whichaims to transform into a smart life care society in panel
discussions. Everyone shared vision and direction. 30 posters
were presented in the poster session and there was an active
exchange of opinions. Moreover, the nearby facility tour andlecture were organized. In the Medtronic Innovation Center,

there was an explanation by the person in charge about the
medical technology and services developed by the company
and the lectures were given by the Ministry of Health, Laborand Welfare and AMED lecturers on venture promotion
measures and intellectual property support systems. We had
feedback from Mr. Toshio Asano, advisor (Asahi Kasei Corp.),Dr. Tatsuro Irimura, professor (Juntendo Medical School), Mr.
Hiroshi Misawa (Medical Technology Association of Japan). Dr.
Haruhiko Manabe, Assistant Visionary Leader, JST gave us
valuable comments that he would like us to work on a specificdesign to realize an in-body hospitals”. The meeting was very
meaningful to strengthen further solidarity towards the harvestof results in the phase III and the leap to post-COI.

◦12. 4. 2018【News】Research Leader, Kazunori KATAOKA (Director General, iCONM,
Professor, The University of Tokyo)'s Lecture was introduced on Zaikai magazine (Vol.4
Dec.).
TM Topics No. 184 / From TM Study meeting
Dr. Kazunori KATAOKA, Director of iCONM Center, etc. gave a lecture on nanotechnology
and technological singularities“Possiblities that nanomachines diagnosis and treat inside thebody toward cancer and Alzheimer's disease”◦12. 7. 2018【Activity】COINS Seminar #39 was held.
Speaker: Dr. Yan LEE
Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry,Seoul National University (SNU), Korea
Title: β -acid amide-based materials: charge-conversion chemistry and new polymericmaterials◦12. 7. 2018【News】COINS member Dr. Satoshi UCHIDA (Visiting Scientist, iCONM, Project
Associate Prof., The University of Tokyo)'s research was introduced on UTokyo Research.
“Designing immunostimulatory double stranded messenger RNA with maintained translational
activity through hybridization with poly A sequences for effective vaccination”◦12. 13. 2018【Appoint】COINS Newsletter“NanoSky Vol.6”was published.
Contents:“Fascinating! World’s first mRNA therapeutics”, Development of basic technology
of cancer vaccine using a new formation of mRNA medicine, etc.
◦12.14. 2018【Activity】5th COINS Symposium was held at Kawasaki City Industrial
Promotion Hall.
◦1. 7. 2019【Activity】COINS Seminar #40 was held.
Speaker: Mr. Seiji YANO
Professor, Cancer Research Institute of Kanazawa University
Title: Circumvention of targeted drug resistance in CNS metastasis◦1.7. 2019【News】The article about COINS was introduced Weekly Igakukai Newspaper.
Future cancer treatment with DDS research (Vol. 3304)

Poster session

TopicsGeneral meeting◦1.18. 2019【News】COINS member, Akira MATSUMOTO (Associate Professor, Tokyo
Medical and Dental University) and his research group's paper has published on Advanced
Function Materials. It was adopted as a back cover and Video abstract. “ Glucose ‐Responsive Insulin Delivery: Microneedle ‐ Array Patch Fabricated with Enzyme ‐ Free
Polymeric Components Capable of On ‐ Demand Insulin Delivery”

July 2018 – June 2019

◦7. 9. 2018【Activity】COINS Seminar #34 was held.
Speaker: Toshio NAGAE, Pharma Business Consultant、PeptiDream Inc.、Director, Human
Metabolome Technologies, Inc.
Title: Maximize business value of Japanese drug discovery / DDS in global markets,
challenges and solutions◦7.11. 2018【News】iCONM Director-General, Dr. KATAOKA appeared on TV program. He
talked about the potential of in-body hospitals for Cancer.
BS ASAHI 『The documentary It's here! Forefront of cancer treatment.』◦7.18. 2018【News】iCONM Director-General, Dr. KATAOKA appeared on TV program. He
talked about the potential of in-body hospitals for Cancer. TV Asahi group「Shinichi Hatori
Morning Show」◦ 7.18. 2018【Award】Dr. Akira MATSUMOTO, Associate Professor, Tokyo Medical and Dental
University was received 2nd Japan Bioindustry Association Award for Young Scientists.
His research title was "Development of“electronics-free”and totally synthetic artificial
pancreas".
◦ 7.20. 2018【Activity】iCONM Director-General, Dr. KATAOKA (COINS Research Leader)gave talk at Kawasaki Institute of industrial Promotion Ceremony of Celebrating 30th
Anniversary and it was introduced on Kanagawa Shimbun and Nihon Keizai Shimbun.
◦ 7. 22. 2018【News】AccuRna, Inc. was featured in the episode of the highly acclaimed TV
series, Innovations TV with Ed Begley, Jr., via CNBC, USA.

◦9. 10. 2018【Activity】COINS Seminar #35 was held.
Speaker: Dr. Shin KWAK, Visiting Scientist, University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Medicine
Title: ALS-targeted therapy and biomarker development◦9. 25. 2018【Activity】COINS Seminar #36 was held.
Speaker: Dr. Kazue KURIHARA
Professor, New Industry Creation Hatchery Center (NICHe), Tohoku University
Title: Surface Forces Measurement for Materials Science, Applications for Polymer Brush andGel◦10. 3. 2018【Activity】COINS Seminar #37 was held.
Speaker: Dr. Ulrich S. SCHUBERT, Professor of Organic-/Macromolecular Chemistry,Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Title: New pharmapolymers and nanoparticles for applications in nanomedicine◦1. 22. 2019【Appoint】Research Leader, Dr. Kazunori KATAOKA (Director General, iCONM,
Professor, The University of Tokyo)'s interview movie was launched on bt cn asia, internet TV
of Singapore.
(1/21) Part 1: Nanomedicine in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s(1/28) Part 2: The future of nanomedicine for everybody◦1. 22. 2019【News】COINS member, Dr. Akira MATSUMOTO, Associate Professor, Tokyo
Medical and Dental University and his research group's paper was published.“Blood sugar
control with boronic acid gel Tokyo Medical and Dental University Diabetes Patch”◦1. 25. 2019【News】The article of a research“Development of smart artificial on-skinpancreas ”conducted by Dr. Akira MATSUMOTO (COINS theme 4), Department of
Bioelectronics, Institute of Biomatrials and Bioengineering, Tokyo Medical and Dental
University was introduced in The Science News.“Persistence and blood glucose level
responsiveness is over one week Trial production of Microneedle-Array Patch with EnzymeFree Polymeric Components”◦10.15. 2018【News】Dr. Kazunori KATAOKA (Director General, iCONM, Professor, The
University of Tokyo) and Sub Theme2 Leader, Dr. Yasutaka ANRAKU (Assistant Professor,
The University of Tokyo and a guest researcher at iCONM）'s research was introduced on
Nipponkeizai Newspaper.

◦1. 26. 2019【News】The article of Dr. Kazunori KATAOKA, iCONM Director-General was
carried in Newton magazine.“Deliver drugs to the targeted organs!“Polymer micelle”◦10.19. 2018【News】Dr. Kazunori KATAOKA (Director General, iCONM, Professor, The
University of Tokyo) 's article "Enhanced intracellular Delivery of siRNA by Controlling ATPResponsivity of Phenylboronic Acid-Functionalized Polyion Complex Micelles" published in
Macromolecular Bioscience was one of the journal's top 20 most downloaded recent papers
amongst artiacles published between July 2016 and June 2018.

◦2. 5. 2019【Award】The team of Prof. Yoshihiro MURAGAKI (COINS member), Tokyo
Women's Medical University and his team received the Minister of Health, Labor and WelfareAward in 1st Japan Innovation Award. This was widely reported in the website of Cabinet
Office, Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
“Tokyo Medical and Dental University and DENSO, etc. received“Minister of Health, Laborand Welfare Award”.

◦ 8.10. 2018【Appoint】Dr. Kazunori KATAOKA, Director General of Innovation Center of
NanoMedicine (iCONM) was awarded the honorary doctorate (Doktor der Naturwissenshaften
ehrenhalber; Dr. rer. Nat. H. C.) from Johannes Gutenberg University (Mainz University) in
Germany.
The honorary doctorate of Mainz University is awarded to researchers who have globallyachieved exceptionally high level of performance. This time, Dr. KATAOKA's research titled"Development of Polymer Therapeutics and Their Application to Cancer Treatment" washighly appreciated in the Faculty of "Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Science and Earth Sciences"and it was the first time in eight years for the Faculty to be awarded.

◦10. 28. 2018【News】COINS member Dr. Takahiro OCHIYA (National Cancer Center
Research Institute) 's group and their research was introduced on Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

◦8.30 ～ 8.31. 2018【Activity】COINS exhibition was held on“JST Fair 2018 - Future Industry
Creation with Science and Technology”organized by JST.

◦11. 28. 2018【Activity】Research Leader, Kazunori KATAOKA (Director General of iCONM,
Professor, The University of Tokyo) has been named a 2018 Highly Cited Researcher in

14 | NanoSky VOL.07 SEPTEMBER 2019◦1.18. 2019【Activity】COINS Seminar #41 was held.
Speaker: Dr. Xiaoyuan (Shawn) CHEN
Senior Investigator, National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Title: Reactive Oxygen Species Goes Beyond Photodynamic Therapy◦10. 29. 2018【Activity】COINS Seminar #38 was held.
Speaker: Dr. Weibo CAI
Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor, University of Wisconsin – Madison, USA
Title: Molecular Imaging, Image-Guided Drug Delivery, and Theranostics◦11.16 – 11.17【Activity】5th COINS Retreat was held at Shonan Village Center.

◦1. 30. 2019【Activity】11th COINS General meeting was held.

◦2. 14. 2019【News】Theme2 Leader, Dr. Yasutaka ANRAKU (Assistant Professor, The
University of Tokyo and a Visiting Scientist at iCONM）'s talk session (held on last Dec.) was
introduced on NATIONAL MUSEUM OF EMERGING SCIENCE AND INNOVATION website.
“Become naturally healthy without medical care? - Medical revolution with“in-body hospitals”【First part】◦2.14. 2019【News】The article regarding Dr. Kazunori KATAOKA, Director-General was
published in Yomiuri Shimbun.
「We are in the future（2）Realization of nanomachines(COINS Theme 2 Leader) received Dean’s Award of Graduate School of Engineering, The
University of Tokyo. This award is given annually to five faculty members who have done
extremely good works.
◦2. 26. 2019【News】Dr.Keiji ITAKA, Professor, Tokyo Medical and Dental University,laboratory (head of iCONM Itaka lab.）had a press release announcing the research paper
published in Molecular Therapy - Nucleic Acids titled "Treatment of intervertebral disk
disease by administration of messenger RNA encoding a cartilage-anabolic transcription
factor".
◦3. 5. 2019【Activity】COINS Seminar #42 was held.
Speaker: Dr. Joachim O. Rädler, Full Professor, Faculty of Physics and Center for
NanoScience,
Ludwig-Maximilians-University
Title: Single Cell Time-Lapse Imaging on Micro-Arrays- transfection kinetics, apoptosis andcell migration◦4. 1. 2019【News】The interview of Dr. KATAOKA, iCONM Director General (COINS
Research Leader)iCONM was posted in monthly magazine“Themis”. April 1 issue“Dr. Kazunori KATAOKA, Director of iCONM challenges Cancer & Alzheimer's Disease
Eradication with micelles”◦4. 3. 2019【Appoint】COINS SDGs promotion video has been completed. This is requestfrom JST.
We are proactively contributing to the achievement of the SDGs goal 3 of "Good health andwell-being".“In-body hospitals”change the future – Good health and well-being What is the SDGs?
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (the 2030 Agenda) is a set of international
development goals from 2016 to 2030, which was adopted by the UN Sustainable
Development Summit held in September 2015 building on the success of Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs).
◦4. 9. 2019【Award】Dr. Nobuhiro NISHIYAMA, Principal Research Scientist / Head of
Nishiyama Laboratory, KAWASAKI INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL PROMOTION Innovation
Center of NanoMedicine(iCONM) (Professor, Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Instituteof Technology) was awarded. Award title:“Study on development and medical application of
nanomachines based on polymer design"◦4.16. 2019【Activity】COINS Seminar #43 was held at Kawasaki King SkyFront Tokyu REI
Hotel.
Part1
Speaker: Mr. Kazuomi IWATANIManager, Intellectual Property Division
Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development（AMED）
Title: "The briefing session of support program by Intellectual Property Division of AMED"
Part2
Speaker: Dr. Hiroatsu NOHARA
Associated Researcher, Affiliation: Lest-CNRS / Aix-Marseille University
Title: "French medical cluster: the case of“Oncopole”in Toulouse"◦4. 23. 2019【News】There was a press conference by Dr. Kazunori KATAOKA, Director
General, iCONM / Professor, The University of Tokyo and Dr. Kanjiro MIYATA, COINS Theme
1 leader（Associate Professor, The University of Tokyo / Visiting Scientist, iCONM）. They
succeeded in developing the Nucleic Acid Medicine-loaded Nanomachine, a technologythat can stably protect nucleic acid drugs that are prone to deactivation in the bloodstream
and deliver them to intractable cancers such as pancreatic cancer and brain tumors. This
research result was published in "Nature Communications (UK scientific journal)" on
Wednesday, April 24, 2019.
Research title: In vivo rendezvous of small nucleic acid drugs with charge- matched block
catiomers to target cancers
The articles regarding this matter were introduced on some newspapers.
Nippon Keizai Shimbun online, Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun online, Alpha Galileo, Science X, ecancer, Kyodo News, Jiji Press◦4. 26. 2019【News】Vice- Director, Mr. Hirokazu IWASAKI appeared on TV program on TVK『NEWS Harbor』and talked about“in-body hospitals”and iCONM.
◦4. 29. 2019【News】Dr. Kazunori KATAOKA, Director General (Professor, The Universityof Tokyo) appeared on TV program“Sukkiri”and introduced“Future medical care”at the
Jaguar YOKOTA’s corner.
◦5.14. 2019【Activity】COINS Seminar #44 was held.
Speaker: Dr. Hiroyuki FUJITA, Professor, Tokyo City University, Advanced Research Lab.
Title: "MEMS Technology and Applications to Biomedical Field"◦5. 30. 2019【Appoint】Professor Kazunori KATAOKA, Director General of iCONM, wasrecommended to become an Honorary Member of the Society of Polymer Science, Japan.
◦6. 3. 2019【News】AccuRna, Inc. one of the participating institutions announced that they
will start clinical trials for breast cancer treatment with SiRNA based nucleic acid medicines
later this year.
AccuRna starts triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) treatment with nucleic acid medicines. |The Chemical Daily◦6. 5. 2019【Activity】Dr. Kazunori KATAOKA, Director General (Professor, The University ofTokyo）gave a talk at Link-J Networking Reception UCLA Health : Partnering with Industry
to Advance Healthcare that was held on 5/16. He talked about the academic exchange with
UCLA that lasts for more than a decade.

◦2. 22. 2019【Award】Dr. Yasutaka ANRAKU, Assistant Professor, The University of Tokyo

NanoSky VOL.07 SEPTEMBER 2019| 15

Activity Report
We are actively using crowdfunding.
When we visit the shrines and temples, we often see notices callingfor donations for repairs and those who donate can leave names on the
tile. In this way, even if it is a small amount of donation, if many
supporters gather, it will become a large amount of money. It is
becoming. Along with the spread of the Internet, this crowdfunding is
becoming an important way to raise funds that support social
contribution activities. More importantly, many people will get to know
the specific contents of the activity and will become easier for them tounderstand. The reason we challenge crowdfunding is that in addition
to raising student participation fees, to increase the understanding of
esoteric research and its purpose, and to commit to help society in the
future. iCONM also took on two challenges last year in research aimed
at treating refractory cancer. This year, we succeeded challenging witha research aimed at the fundamental treatment of the intractabledisease called cystic fibrosis.

We had 49 people supported
us. Thank you.
Wenqian YANG

Details are here ↓COINS Seminar Report Pick up! ～Learn latest trends of medical service and science ～〈COINS seminar #43〉
COINS Seminar #43 was held on Tuesday, Apr. 16th at Kawasaki
King SkyFront Tokyu REI Hotel.The seminar, it has been divided into
two parts.In the first part, we had lectures by Mr. Kazuomi IWATANI(Manager, Intellectual Property Division, Japan Agency for Medical
Research and Development（AMED）), Title: "The briefing session of
support program by Intellectual Property Division of AMED ".
In the second part, we had lectures by Dr. Hiroatsu Nohara (Associate
Researcher, Affiliation：Lest-CNRS / Aix-Marseille University), Title:"French medical cluster: the case of“Oncopole”in Toulouse"
We had a discussion and mixer after the seminar, all participants andspeakers had enjoyed active discussion at stylish and open space.

Mr. Kazuomi IWATANI

Dr. Hiroyuki FUJITA〈COINS seminar #44〉
COINS Seminar #44 was held on Tuesday, May. 14th at iCONM.
In this seminar, we had lectures by Dr. Hiroyuki FUJITA (Professor,
Tokyo City University, Advanced Research Lab.), Title: "MEMS
Technology and Applications to Biomedical Field".
We had a discussion and research mixer after the seminar, allparticipants and speakers had enjoyed active discussion.

Dr. Hiroatsu NOHARA and the seminar venue

Editor’s NoteNanoSky vol.7 will be the last issue of the six themes aiming to realize“In-Body Hospitals”.
The contents include research activities, business models, and introductions of ventures originating from COINS with the goal of
Theme 6 "Social system for implementation of the results into society". As we enter Phase III, our initiatives will accelerate to realize
the“in-body hospitals”in 2045, the focus is on the COINS social implementation strategy for the realization of in-body hospitals.
In the“Talking about Theme 6”, the establishment of new venture companies according to the business potential of intellectual
property based on research results and the networks including the Tonomachi district, the Keihin coastal area and the Tokyo
metropolitan area and the cooperation between clusters are promoted, and activities for fostering venture companies that transmit to
the world are introduced.
With the change of editorial system, I will be the editor-in-chief from this month issue. The next issue will be a novel style that is notbound by the theme frame. Please don‘t miss it.

(Editor-in-chief Miyako YOKOYAMA)

7

Edited by NanoSky Editorial Board (Tomohiro ANZ AI, Makoto
SHIMAZAKI, Miyako YOKOYAMA)
Writer： Ayumi KOJIMA
Camera : Aki TANAKA
Design : Studio L Co., Ltd. Studio R Co., Ltd.
Copyright : KAWASAKI INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL PROMOTION

Vol.

Published by Center of Open Innovation Network for Smart Health (COINS),
Innovation Center of NanoMedicine (iCONM),
KAWASAKI INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL PROMOTION,
3-25-14, Tonomachi, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Pref. JAPANTEL: +81 44 589 5785 / FAX: +81 44 589 5789
http://coins.kawasaki-net.ne.jp/