09:00-10:30(CET)Technology presentations by German and Japanese startups/scaleupsStartups/Scaleups from BioM
EpiQMAx: Decoding epigenetics for clinical applications
EpiQMAx
Speaker Dr. Victor SOLIS (Chief Scientific Officer - EpiQMAx GmbH)

Epigenetic markers are key readouts for understanding how environmental
and lifestyle factors affect our predisposition and development of diseases.
Epigenetic marks serve as good drug targets because they are heritable,
reversible and many are causally linked with diseases. Researchers,
Pharmaceutical and Diagnostic companies are in the constant search forsuch markers. To fulfil their demand, EpiQMAx has standardized methods
and is robotizing experimental protocols into a technology platform thatquantifies epigenetic marks from biofluids, solid tissues and buccal swabs.
We commercialize our product together with machine learning tools that
discover and validate markers associated with diseases and other conditions.
URL www.epiqmax.com

Transforming the Lives of Patients with Severe Pulmonary
Diseaseethris Speaker Priv.-Doz. Dr. Carsten Rudolph, CEOEthris has paved a new path from genes to therapeutic proteins using its
proprietary, non-immunogenic messenger RNA technology platform todiscover, design and develop innovative therapies. We are a global leader
in delivering stabilized mRNAs directly to the respiratory system via
optimized formulation and nebulization technologies. We are rapidly
approaching proof of concept for generating therapeutic antibodies against
COVID-19 in the lung through a partnered program while advancing ourpipeline of immuno-modulation and mRNA-based protein replacement
therapies with the ultimate goal of improving patients’ lives.
URL www.ethris.com

Revolutionizing medical diagnostics by proteomicsOmicEra
Speaker Dr. Sophia Doll, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer at OmicEra
Diagnostics GmbHAt OmicEra Diagnostics, we are revolutionizing medical diagnostics. We
transform today’s single analyte blood tests to parallelized big dataacquisitions using our mass spectrometry-based proteomics platform. This
will catalyze the discovery of novel early disease biomarkers by profilingevery individual’s unique proteome – the ensemble of all proteins.
URL https://omicera.com

Viral vectors to support Cell & Gene Therapies from Early StageSIRION Biotech
Speaker Dr. Cristina URECHE, Head Discovery & Preclinical Services

Clinical trials focussed on gene therapy are increasing, so does the needfor viral vectors. Drug developers require specialists with competence
around viral vectors that fit any type & stage of development. The presenter
will walk you through key success factors when considering viral vectors foryour gene therapy or CAR-T and cell therapy developments. A smoothtransfer from preclinical stage to clinics is of utmost importance.
URL https://www.sirion-biotech.com/

Startups/Scaleups from Tsukuba

The challenge of new drug discovery based on bioactive peptideDRPs (disulfide-rich peptides): the cutting-edge drug discovery
platform Veneno SuiteTM
Veneno Technologies Co. Ltd.
Speaker Kazunori Yoshikawa, President and CEODRPs, a group of tightly folded peptides with three or more disulfide bonds inthe molecule, are attracting attention as a next-generation drug discovery
modality because of their high activity and selectivity for various ion channels
and other membrane proteins such as GPCRs, as well as their excellent
physicochemical properties such as resistance to degrading enzymes andhigh thermal stability.
In this presentation, we will introduce the difficulties of DRP drug discovery
and the new basic technology, Veneno SuiteTM, which solves these difficulties.
URL https://veneno.co.jp

Consecutive Discovery of New Drug Candidates with Proprietary
Medchem Technology
Alchemedicine, Inc. Speaker CEO Tanaka Keigo
Alchemedicine, carve-out biotech from Eisai Co. Ltd., is a drug discovery
biotech dedicated to discovering novel small molecule drugs by using
proprietary medchem technology. We have two business models: one is thelicensing of internal R&D pipelines, another is the discovery of new drugcandidates under the collaboration with outer parties followed by the licensingof our rights. In this presentation, we will introduce company overview andbusiness opportunities.
URL https://alchemedicine.com/

Startups/Scaleups from Kawasaki

Drug and Biomarker Discovery by HMT’s Next-gen Metabolomics
Human Metabolome Technologies, Inc.
Speaker
Kenjiro Kami, Ph.D., Executive Officer, Head of Global Sales Department

Human Metabolome Technologies (HMT) has been providing metabolome
analysis service to researchers worldwide since 2003 and contributed to over
6,000 projects with more than 500 publications. Continuously innovating CEMsbased metabolomics technology, HMT dramatically improved analyticalsensitivity and coverage of target metabolites recently and developed asophisticated chemoinformatics approach for predicting the structure of
unknown compounds, with which dozens of new metabolites weresuccessfully identified. Taken together, HMT introduces a novel solution forelucidating drug efficacy and toxicity mechanisms and discovering patient
stratification biomarkers using the cutting-edge metabolomics technologies.
URL https://humanmetabolome.com/

Accelerating Drug and Cell Medicine Development using Large-scale
Data of Cells
Knowledge Palette, Inc. Speaker CEO Hiroki Danno
Knowledge Palette is a startup company developing platforms ofphenotypic drug discovery and regenerative cell medicine. In today's drug
discovery industry, the difficulty and cost of new drug development is
continually rising, as few drug target substances remain in the body. On theother hand, regenerative cell medicine is expected to fulfil unmet medical
needs as new medical treatments, but there is a problem in quality control as
they are composed of living cells. We analyze whole gene expression profilesof cells, which are treated with new drug candidates or culture media, andscreen their effects to solve the above problems by applying our large-scaletranscriptome technology.
URL https://www.knowledge-palette.com/en/

Innovations in Drug Delivery to Cure Brain Diseases
Braizon Therapeutics,Inc.
Speaker Grobal Head, Business Development,
Braizon Therapeutics US,Inc President & CEO
Philip Davy

Braizon Therapeutics develops and licenses drug delivery platforms tocross the blood-brain barrier. Our first partnered product will provide IVformulated antisense oligonucleotide drugs delivered to the brain withintargeted polymer micelles. These nanoparticles provide high efficiency drug
loading and are being adapted to antibody, peptide, and small moleculedelivery. We provide brain targeted formulation and CMC support to ourpartners, with a low barrier of access through feasibility studies. Concurrent
with internal asset projects, Braizon is promoting alliances with pharma andbiotech in Japan, the EU, and the USA.
URL https://braizon.com/

10:40-11:40(CET)Collaborative Seminar by German and Japanese Bio Industrial Clusters
Keynote SpeechThe future prospection of biotechnology research in Tsukuba,
created by the fusion of digital and biotechnology
University of Tsukuba
Speaker Dr. Hiroyuki Nishiyama
Professor (Faculty of Medicine)
Vice Director, University of Tsukuba Hospital
Project Leader, Tsukuba International Center for Digital
Biotechnology

The "Tsukuba International Center for Digital Biotechnology" has been
selected as one of the candidate sites for a global biocommunity in Japan in2020. This project aims to make Tsukuba Science City an international biocommunity hub based on innovation, industry-academia-government cocreation system, and digital bio-first human resources, with an emphasis on
the well-being of all generations of citizens.

Seminar1.
Development of regenerative immunotherapy with induced
pluripotent stem cell technology
Univ. of Tsukuba/ CiRA, Kyoto Univ.
Speaker Dr. Shin Kaneko, Professor

In Japan, investigator-initiated clinical trials will soon begin for ovariancancer treatment using human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-homozygous-induced
pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived antiglypican-3 (GPC3) chimeric antigen
receptor (CAR)-expressing natural killer/innate lymphoid cells (NK/ILC). In
this presentation, we describe our methods for the stable, feeder-free
production of CAR-expressing NK cells from CAR-transduced iPSC withclinically relevant scale and materials. These cells showed stable
CD45/CD7/CAR expression, effector functions of cytotoxicity and interferon
gamma (IFN-γ) production against GPC3-expressing tumor cells.
When the CAR-NK/ILC cells were injected into a GPC3-positive, ovariantumor-bearing, immunodeficient mouse model, we observed a significant
therapeutic effect that prolonged the survival of the animals.
URL https://www.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/e/research/kaneko_summary.html

2.
Astellas' Open Innovation
Astellas Pharma Inc.
Speaker Hiroyuki Usuda, Manager, Scouting Group,
Astellas Innovation Management LLC

Astellas Innovation Management (AIM) has offices in Cambridge,
Massachusetts and Brisbane, California in the US, Cambridge in the UK, andTsukuba in Japan and has constructed broad networks with various
institutions to enable flexible partnering arrangements. We pursue the goal ofrealising collaboration that benefits both sides, with respect for partners’
existing research and leveraging Astellas facilities and human resources. We
are particularly interested in early stage partnerships with academia andbiopharmaceutical companies. We are committed to transforming innovative
science into VALUE for patients in collaboration with various partners whoshare our VISION.
URL https://www.astellas.com/en/