The establishment of Biozipcode, Inc. began around 2015, as part of a joint research initiative between StudioMakyu Co., Ltd. (led by Representative Director Fumihisa Kojima) and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Shiga University of Medical Science (formerly led by Professor Hideto Kojima, now a special professor).
StudioMakyu Co., Ltd. initially supported both traditional wet lab research (In Vivo and In Vitro) as well as In Silico research and development. This included using bioinformatics tools like BLAST, developing proprietary software, and performing large-scale computations with GPGPU.
In January 2022, Biozipcode, Inc. was established to continue the joint research with StudioMakyu Co., Ltd. . Subsequently, in April 2022, a joint research lab for “Regenerative Medicine Development Course” was set up at Shiga University of Medical Science, focusing on developing new curative methods for intractable diseases including diabetes, and establishing new treatments using cell-targeting peptides (Biozipcode).
Merchant Bankers Co., Ltd. promised an investment of 100 million yen and assistance in raising funds of approximately 10 billion yen. However, due to delays and refusal in the payment of joint research expenses, citing reasons like delays in peer review of lab papers, unpaid bills to the patent office for patent applications, and threats of termination of the joint research agreement, Fumihisa Kojima bought back all shares in exchange for the 40 million yen disbursed by Merchant Bankers Co., Ltd. and the costs of patent applications. He aimed to continue the joint research course. Currently, over 130 million yen is being spent on research and related expenses.
In June 2023, a study titled “Complete remission of diabetes with a transient HDAC inhibitor and insulin in streptozotocin mice” was published in Communications Biology, leading to an increase in joint research funds by Biozipcode, Inc. and accelerating the research. Plans are in place to continue research beyond the fiscal year 2024 and to consider business partnerships and joint ventures with pharmaceutical companies.
For the release from Merchant Bankers Co., Ltd., please refer to this URL.
https://www.nikkei.com/nkd/disclosure/tdnr/20230227518853/