i-Newsletter2023spring

Shimadzu Tokyo Innovation Plaza was constructed

An opening ceremony

On January 16, 2023, an official opening ceremonyof Shimadzu Corporation's first large-scale researchand development center in the Kanto region,"Shimadzu Tokyo Innovation Plaza" was carried out.
The facility consists of four laboratories covering an
area of 9,503 square meters in Research Gate
Building III which was jointly developed by Daiwa
House and Kawasaki City, and is equipped withapproximately 100 analytical instruments. The
concept is "Innovation Plaza -Attracting andconnecting people, ideas, and technology-". Besides
developing new analytical methods with customers,
it is planned to use as an open innovation center inthe Kanto region, with a space introducing thehistory of the company and halls for holding
academic conferences.
The exhibition space and offices are arranged
around an open atrium, so that the curved laboratory
benches could be viewed from the corridor.
Moreover, on the top floor, we arranged the globe
shaped space, which symbolizes global business andcontribution to the global environment. Inside isnamed the ICHIHANA Hall, which derives from theword “ichihana”, that means “promptly” in theKyoto dialect. We embodied the concept of“fascinating” the analyticaland measuring
instruments and employees to our visitors. Prior tothe opening ceremony, a preview was held forresidents of institutions of KING SKYFRONT.
After an overview of the facility, they were divided
intomultiple groups for touring the facility. Therewas an active discussion and interaction at thenetworking meeting after the tour. Several
academic conferences and seminars havealready been held, and there were about 3,000
visitors by the end of March, 2023. Our goal ofcreating new knowledge and value frominteraction spaces has already begun.
【From Tonomachi to the world】
Our staff who were involved in the planning andlaunch of the center said the reason for setting
up the center at "KING SKYFRONT" asfollows.
One of the features of Shimadzu Tokyo
Innovation Plaza is that it locates close to ourcustomers. About 70 healthcare-related research
institutes and companies are located in theKING SKYFRONT of Kawasaki City, andtechnical exchanges and collaborative research
are actively carried out. The Shimadzu Tokyo
Innovation Plaza is not only close to customers
in the Tokyo metropolitan area, but it is also
convenient to Haneda Airport, so we anticipate
that customers from all over Japan and evenoverseas will visit frequently. We think it issignificant to understand customer needs andreflect in new analysis methods and productdevelopment.

Click here for Shimadzu Corporation news release

RINK FESTIVAL 2023 was held

On February 17, 2023, the 5th Regenerative medicine ＆ Celltherapy industrialization network of Kanagawa(RINK) was held
face to face for the first time in three years. The event aims tocreate a place for PR and interaction among RINK member
companies, businesses operators, scientists, students and othersfrom around Japan, under the theme of "Tolerant relationshipand new encounters”.
In five sessions, institutions of regenerative medicine and celltherapy located in the Tonomachi area discussed on a wide
range of themes, such as the aspirations for cutting-edge scienceand technology innovation activities, efforts and challenges as
the bio-community, collaboration with peers, the role of "qualityevaluation" in the industrialization of regenerative medicine andcell therapy, and overseas expansion of bio-ventures. In the final
discussion by top runners in the regenerative medicine industry
had a lively discussion on how to promote the practicalapplication and industrialization of regenerative medicine andcell therapy in Japan.

The 1st Science Forum was held atTonomachi King SKYFRONT

Fujita Academy and Keio University signed
a partnership agreement

On February 6, 2023, the 1st Science Forum was heldat Tonomachi King SKYFRONT. Scientists andengineers engaged in research and development invarious fields in this area,
aiming for proactively andactively exchange information and technology throughscience and engineering, held a networking meeting thatcombines research presentation, technology exhibitions,and company exhibitions. In the research presentationsof the first session, three local institutions, the National
Institute of Health Sciences, the Central Institute forExperimental Animals, and the Innovation Center ofNanoMedicine gave their cutting-edge researchpresentation of the results.
At the networking meeting of the second session that
followed the presentation, 23 local institutions
introduced
theirresearch
results,
proprietary
technologies, product services, and businesses in theform of posters and product exhibitions. Many
participants actively exchanged opinions andinformation, and it was a great opportunity for mutual
understanding and new discoveries for them.

On February 1, 2023, Fujita Academy and Keio
University signed a partnership agreement to work
together to promote industry-academia-government
collaboration activities centered on the Haneda andTonomachi districts with the aim of promoting thedevelopment and social implementation of cuttingedge medical science and technology. The Fujita
Medical Innovation Center Tokyo and Keio
University Tonomachi Town Campus, which wereestablished by both institutions, will collaborate toconduct research and development in the fields ofregenerative and cell therapy, gene therapy, robotics
and data science, and will cooperate incommercialization support, human resource
development, shared use of facilities and equipment,
etc. Thus, by increasing the sophistication,
efficiency, and acceleration of research anddevelopment, they will synergistically demonstrate
the potential of both and aim to create products andservices in the new advanced medical field that willcontribute globally.

Systemic treatment by acting on the brain
The brain is a very important organ. Because of this, the brain has a barrier that only allows necessary substances
to enter, which is why it’s difficult to discover CNS drugs. Here is a tiny capsules (nanomachines) at iCONM,
designed to enter the brain. Recently, NHK broadcast a report that when dementia drugs were loaded onto thesenanomachines and administered to mice, the drugs were found to be effective with minimal side effects. And new
research using these "brain-entering nanomachines" is underway in collaboration with a Spanish university. Takeobesity, for example. A large amount of drugs are needed to break down fat throughout the body. But a drug thatworks in the brain, where fat metabolism is controlled, would work with a much smaller dose. This is the areathat gives orders to break down fat throughout the body when the amount of fat in the surrounding area increases.
So when mice were given a nanomachine loaded with a drug that slows lipolysis, they demonstrated rapid weight
loss, results published in Biomaterials Science.
Click here for this trratise

King Sky Front PR video released (Research Instituteversion)
PR videos are now available for the four laboratories on theKing Sky Front: National Institute of Health Sciences, Central
Institute for Experimental Animals, Innovation Center of Nano
Medicine, and Kawasaki City Institute for Public Health.
Click here King Skyfront’YouTube channel

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https://ws.formzu.net/fgen/S11051741/
Date of issue: April 2023
Publisher: TONOMACHI LifeScience Cluster Division
Kawasaki Institute of Industrial Promotion
Mail：pr-ksfcl@kawasaki-net.ne.jp