November 12, 2020
PeptiDream Inc.
Fujitsu Limited.
Mizuho Financial Group, Inc.
Mizuho Capital Co., Ltd.
Takenaka Corporation
KISHIDA CHEMICAL CO., LTD.

Establishment of Joint Venture Aimed at the Development of Therapeutics
for the Treatment of Coronavirus Disease
Tokyo and Kawasaki, Japan, November 12, 2020 – PeptiDream Inc., a public Kanagawabased biopharmaceutical company (“PeptiDream”) (TSE:4587), Fujitsu Limited (“Fujitsu”)(TSE:6702), Mizuho Capital Co., Ltd. (“Mizuho Capital”) which is a consolidated subsidiary ofMizuho Financial Group, Inc., Takenaka Corporation and KISHIDA CHEMICAL CO., LTD.
(“KISHIDA CHEMICAL”) have agreed today to establish PeptiAID Inc..(“PeptiAID”), a joint
venture company that will research and develop peptide therapeutics capable of neutralizing
both the current SARS-CoV-2 virus (Coronavirus Disease “COVID-19”) and potentially any
future Coronavirus (“CoV”) outbreaks that may occur.
With the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic posing an unprecedented global challenge,
there is a significant need for efficacious therapeutics for this disease. The public has highexpectations for a slate of new vaccines, however, even with an effective vaccine against
COVID-19, the existence of effective therapeutic agents will be indispensable to the proper
control of the disease going forward. Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly paramount to
prepare for any future CoV pandemics that may occur, in addition to the current COVID-19.
PeptiDream has been applying its proprietary Peptide Discovery Platform System “PDPS”
technology in a multi-pronged strategy toward identifying peptide candidates targeting
different sites/regions of the CoV viral “spike“ protein, which is essential for coronavirus toenter human cells. Concurrently, PeptiDream has been in discussions with a number ofpotential discovery and development partners from both industry and academia around thefastest development routes. In the midst of this global public health emergency, companies
from all industries, outside of the pharmaceutical industry, have come to recognize a commonsocial mission, and have looked for ways to contribute in this global fight against COVID-19.
PeptiDream, Fujitsu, Mizuho Capital, Takenaka Corporation and KISHIDA CHEMICAL share
this common social mission and believe that rapidly developing effective therapeutics forCOVID-19 is of the utmost importance. As such, the five companies have agreed to establish
PeptiAID aimed at the rapid development of therapeutics to treat the current COVID-19 andany future CoV diseases.
PeptiAID, will obtain PeptiDream’s COVID-19 candidate compounds, and strive to rapidly
complete preclinical studies and advance them into clinical testing. In addition to fully
leveraging PeptiDream’s accumulated expertise and know-how in macrocyclic peptides anddrug discovery, PeptiAID will harness Fujitsu’s high-performance computing (HPC)
technologies, as well as its Digital Annealer, a quantum-inspired computing architecture that
rapidly solves combinatorial optimization problems, to further accelerate the relevant studies.
Furthermore, PeptiAID will aim to shorten development times by running many of the earlystudies in parallel. PeptiAID will look to partner with regional pharmaceutical companies tofurther expedite late stage clinical testing, development, and commercialization efforts.
[PeptiAID Overview]
Name：PeptiAID Inc.
Establishment ：October 2020
Headquarter ：3-25-23, Tonomachi , Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa, Japan
Representative：Keiichi Masuya, Ph.D. (current Executive Vice President of PeptiDream)
Capital：599 million Japanese yen (projection as of 31/12/2020）
Ownership：PeptiDream 25.0%, Fujitsu 25.0%, Mizuho Capital 24.9%,Takenaka Corporation16.7%, KISHIDA CHEMICAL 8.3%
(projection as of 31/12/2020)[Comment from Keiichi Masuya, Ph.D., Executive Vice President, PeptiDream]“I would like to express my deepest respect to four companies for their great supports in a
moment of global crisis like the present, which I also find is a sobering reminder of theimportance of accomplishing this common social mission across industries. Since April 2020
when PeptiDream’s efforts to discover therapeutics for the treatment of Coronavirus Disease
was announced publicly, a number of peptide candidate compounds have been successfully
obtained and now at PeptiAID, we are determined to do our best to advance preclinical andearly-stage clinical developments in the shortest possible time. Furthermore, we will strive tobring the therapeutics for the treatment of Coronavirus Disease to the market as early as
possible, exploring possible collaboration with pharmaceutical companies with strong
expertise in late-stage clinical development in relevant regions.”[Comments from Izumi Nagahori, Head of Digital Software & Solutions BusinessGroup, Global Solutions Business, Fujitsu]"Fujitsu's Purpose is to make the world more sustainable by building trust in society throughinnovation. We are very pleased to play a role in this venture, which exemplifies ourcommitment to these values, and allows Fujitsu to contribute further to the fight against theglobal COVID-19 pandemic. We hope to accelerate the find for drug candidates for thetreatment of COVID in joint research with PeptiDream, leveraging our unique technologies
like the Digital Annealer and supercomputers. Ultimately, we aim to establish a new
foundation for the drug discovery process for the New Normal era through the power ofdigital transformation.”[Comments from Yusuke Omachi, President, Mizuho Capital]“Amid growing demand for advanced medical technology centered on infectious diseases
due to the COVID-19 pandemic, “Mizuho Life Science Fund No.1 Limited Partnership” wasestablished in January 2020 for 5 billion yen in order to strengthen financial support for
innovation companies working on the development of advanced medical care; subsequently,
the Fund was expanded to 10 billion yen in June 2020. While the early development ofradical therapeutic agent for COVID-19 is an urgent issue, the establishment of PeptiAID Inc
has great social significance. We, Mizuho, take an equity stake through Life Science Fundas the only financial institution in the “All Japan Project”, which is constituted of five domestic
private companies. In addition, we practice “Open & Connect”, which is an action agenda offive-year management plan; through this, as whole group, we offer financial support andreinforce business development as a strategic partner. It is our earnest hope that theeffective therapeutic agent for COVID-19 would be delivered to medical sites at the earliest
possible date, and we sincerely hope that we could make a contribution to realize it.”[Comments from Masato Sasaki, President, Takenaka Corporation]“Together with using our group's comprehensive capabilities to contribute to "urban creation"
so that people can live safely and with peace of mind, Takenaka aims to deepen dialog withsociety and stakeholders, and realize a sustainable society by solving societal problems.
Amid the growing need of therapeutics for infectious diseases worldwide, PeptiDream's highaspirations for development of therapeutics as well as this new company's intention to solve
the problems facing the world today through the knowledge and technologies of its investors
will contribute to the realization of cities and societies where people can live safely andsecurely. This is why we have decided to participate in this project.”[Comments from Mitsuhiro Kishida, President, KISHIDA CHEMICAL]“We have been working to position the services that support drug discovery research atJapanese pharmaceutical companies as one of our important businesses for about 20 years.
We are pleased to support the new company that undertakes the drug development of
COVID-19 with a high aim and company-wide efforts. We sincerely hope that the drugs
being developed in the new company will reach patients as soon as possible and people
around the world will be able to return to their normal lives without anxiety.”<About PeptiDream>
PeptiDream Inc. is a public (Tokyo Stock Exchange 1st Section 4587) biopharmaceutical company
founded in 2006 employing our proprietary Peptide Discovery Platform System (PDPS), a stateof-the-art highly versatile discovery platform which enables the production of highly diverse(trillions) non-standard peptide libraries with high efficiency, for the identification of highly potent
and selective hit candidates, which then can be developed into peptide-based or small moleculebased therapeutics. PeptiDream aspires to be a world leader in drug discovery and development
to address unmet medical needs and improve the quality of life of patients worldwide. For further
information, please visit www.peptidream.com.

<About Fujitsu>
Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company offering
a full range of technology products, solutions and services. Approximately 130,000 Fujitsu people
support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT toshape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated
revenues of 3.9 trillion yen (US$35 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020. For more
information, please see www.fujitsu.com.

<About Mizuho Capital and Mizuho Financial Group>
Mizuho Capital is an integral part of the Japan-based Mizuho Financial Group, Inc.(TSE:8411),
one of the largest financial institutions in the world, offering comprehensive financial and strategic
services including private banking and venture capital through its subsidiaries. The group hasover 900 offices and 60,000 employees worldwide in nearly 40 countries throughout theAmericas, EMEA, and Asia. As of December 31, 2019, its total assets were $1.8 trillion. Learn
more about Mizuho Financial Group at www.mizuho-fg.com.

<About Takenaka Corporation>
Takenaka Corporation is one of the largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms inJapan. With annual sales of $12 billion, 20 overseas offices, the largest construction R&D
laboratory in the world and over 2,000 architects in the design department, Takenaka offers
comprehensive services worldwide across the entire spectrum of space creation from site locationand planning to design and construction as well as postcompletion services such as building
maintenance. For more information, please see https://www.takenaka.co.jp/takenaka_e/.

<About KISHIDA CHEMICAL>KISHIDA CHEMICAL was established in 1941, as a comprehensive manufacturer of reagents,
we have expanded not only general reagent business, but also battery material business, drug
discovery support business and life science business. And we have continuously grown as a fastand flexible company that can respond to a wide range of our customers' needs. Based on theslogan “All for Our Customer’s Research and Development”, we will continue to contribute to ourcustomers' success in research and development through “Reliable Technology and ReliableQuality”. For more information, please visit our website https://www.kishida.co.jp/english/

Enquiries:
PeptiDream Inc.
Mie Yamazaki – IR & Public Affairs
EMAIL: m-yamazaki@peptidream.com

Fujitsu Limited
Public and Investor Relations Division
Inquiries

Mizuho Capital Co., Ltd.
Corporate Planning Department+81 (0)3-3596-1270

Takenaka Corporation
Public Relations Department+81 (0)3-6810-5140
KISHIDA CHEMICAL Co., Ltd.
E-Mail : shiyaku@kishida.co.jp