FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 2020/3/2

Capital Alliance with Kringle Pharma, Inc.

~ 7P Initiative: Development of Therapeutic Drugs for Spinal Cord Injury ~M3, Inc. (Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; CEO: Itaru Tanimura; URL: https://corporate.m3.com/; “M3”below) has announced capital participation to Kringle Pharma, Inc. (Headquarters: Osaka, Japan;
President & CEO: Kiichi Adachi; URL: http://www.kringle-pharma.com/; “Kringle Pharma” below) as thefirst investment for M3’s CVC fund “1P1Y Fund,” in conjunction with “7P Projects” initiatives.
1. BackgroundM3 operates m3.com, a specialized web portal for medical professionals that delivers healthcare
related information to its 280,000+ physician members in Japan, and offers marketing and clinical trialservices. Recent business expansion have been in areas such as AI diagnostic tool development,
genome diagnostics provision, and stroke rehabilitation centers, no longer limited to pharmaceuticalmarketing. “7P Projects” aim to integrate such businesses in order to provide holistic solutions for
multiple issues within individual therapeutic areas. Furthermore, presence outside of Japan include theU.S., U.K., France, China, Korea and India, with aggressive business expansion overseas that has
amassed over 5.8 million physicians as members across our global platforms, allowing provision of a wide
range of services.
Kringle Pharma is a venture company launched by Osaka University with strength in R&D of
HGF*1-based therapeutic drugs for intractable diseases with no radical treatments, and has been fundedby public institutions such as AMED*2 and JST*3,. They have also been awarded with the Japan
Bio-Venture Award in 2009 (past winners include PeptiDream Inc. and SanBio Co., Ltd.) HGF is aregenerative repair factor in the body, and is expected to become breakthrough treatments for various
diseases. Kringle Pharma has accumulated HGF-related patents as well as valuable expertise on
large-scale manufacturing of pharma-grade*4 HGF recombinant protein*5, and focuses on domestic clinical
trials for intractable neurological diseases such as acute injury of the spinal cord and amyotrophic lateralsclerosis (ALS).
Spinal cord injuries are mainly caused by traffic accidents and accidental falls, including falls fromhigher altitudes. In recent years, injuries from falls have been increasing due to an aging population,causing spinal cord injury patients to increase by roughly 5,000 annually. There is currently no drug totreat spinal cord injury in the acute phase, thus the demand for a new drug is very high. Kringle Pharma’s
Phase I / II clinical trials for acute spinal cord injury have confirmed the safety and efficacy of theHGF-based drug. Due to high medical needs, the drug has been approved as an orphan drug by theMinistry of Health, Labor and Welfare as of September 12, 2019. To reach patients in need as soon aspossible, Kringle Pharma is preparing for its Phase III trial, aiming to expedite the launch of the drug.

1*1*2*3*4*5Hepatocyte Growth Factor
Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development
Japan Science and Technology Agency
Protein produced from host cells transfected with human HGF gene using genetic recombination techniques
GMP(Good Manufacturing Practice) grade< Anticipated Therapy Areas for Potential Clinical Application of HGF*6 >OrganDisease Name (Blue letters: under development)
Spinal cord injury, Amyotrophic Lateral
NeuralSclerosis (ALS), cerebral infarction
Acute renal failure, chronic renal failure, renal
Kidneytransplant, diabetic nephropathy
Acute hepatitis, fulminant hepatitis, cirrhosis,
Liverbiliary atresia, fatty liver, liver transplantation
Acute pneumonia, pulmonary fibrosis, lungLungtransplantation
Vascular disorders (atherosclerosis obliterans,Circulatory prevention of vascular restenosis, etc.),
myocardial infarction, dilated cardiomyopathy
Others Skin ulcer, vocal fold scar
*6 Not approved as of March 2020

< Current Development Pipeline >DiseaseDevelopment Phase
Country
Phase III study inAcute spinal
preparation
Japancord injury
Designated as orphan drug
Amyotrophic Phase II study (doctorLateralinitiated clinical trial)
Japan
Sclerosis (ALS) ongoing
Phase I / II study (doctorVocal Cord Scar initiated clinical trial)Japancompleted
Acute Renal
Phase I study completed
USFailure2

2. Synergy EffectM3 plans to address spinal cord injury under its 7P Projects initiatives, which are initiatives that aims toprovide solutions for multiple issues within therapeutic areas by combining various services that extend
beyond pharmaceutical marketing. In order to expedite its market launch, M3 will utilize M3 Group’s
know-how in R&D to offer regulatory consult, as well as implement digitalized clinical development
services such as “Mr. Finder” to expedite recruitment of patients with acute phase of spinal cord injury infuture trials.
Upon launch of Kringle Pharma’s drug, M3 Group’s services will be offered as solutions to various
issues surrounding spinal cord injury, including “MR-kun family” marketing support services for promotionof appropriate drug usage, and “Y’s” rehabilitation services for provision of optimal aftercare.

RehabFacilities

MedicalMarketers

MR-kunAd
Agencies

ClinicalTrials

PharmaMarketing
Consultations

Spinal CordInjury
Disease B
Disease C
Disease D
Disease E<Company Overview>
Name

Kringle Pharma, K.K.

Established

December, 2001

Headquarters

7-7-15 Asagi Saito Ibaraki City, Osaka

CEOKiichi Adachi

Nature of BusinessResearch & development of new bio-pharmaceuticals using
HGF (pharmaceuticals for regenerative medicine)

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