WEEK OF November 11, 2024
Building a Transpacific Healthcare Ecosystem
Japan Healthcare Week, featuring Conference Events in Tokyo (Nov. 11, 12) and Kumamoto (Nov. 14)
Navigating Biopharma Innovation Across the Pacific
Join us for an engaging event focused on bridging the gap between U.S. investment and the Japanese biotech industry, where we will discuss key challenges and explore potential solutions. Attendees will connect with Japanese startups, government officials, and academics, gaining insights into the biotech startup lifecycle through firsthand experiences from founders and investors. Together, we aim to ignite interest in biotechnology entrepreneurship while identifying mutual investment opportunities and addressing structural obstacles in cross-border collaboration.
The networking reception will take place immediately after the seminar activities at the Akasaka Intercity Conference Center. All attendees are encouraged to attend and connect with the speakers and other attendees. This reception is generously sponsored by CMIC.
Language: English・Japanese (Simultaneous interpretation available)
Navigating Biopharma Innovation Across the Pacific
Monday, November 11, 2024
12:00–5:00 PM
Networking Reception: 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM
Akasaka Intercity Conference
12:00 P.M. – 12:30 P.M.
REGISTRATION
12:30 P.M. – 12:45 P.M.
OPENING OF THE SYMPOSIUM, WELCOME REMARKS
Steve Pollock leads Japan Society of Northern California (JSNC) and is actively involved with a number of JSNC’s signature initiatives, including its annual Japan Healthcare Conference. Steve is also an avid consumer of JSNC’s diverse programming on topics ranging from Japanese arts and culture, to business and innovation, healthcare, and policy and economics.
Evan Felsing assumed duties as the Minister-Counselor for Economic and Scientific Affairs at U.S. Embassy Tokyo in June 2023. Mr. Felsing is a member of the State Department’s Senior Foreign Service and has served his entire career in the Indo-Pacific region.
Most recently, Mr. Felsing served as a foreign policy advisor to the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Pacific Command (USARPAC) during which time he worked closely with the Japan Ground Self Defense Force. Prior to that, he served as deputy Minister Counselor for Economic Affairs in New Delhi and headed the Economic Section at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing from 2016-2018. Mr. Felsing has also served in Peshawar, Pakistan; Shanghai, China; Hong Kong; and Mumbai, India. In Washington, DC, he worked in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs.
Originally from northern California, Mr. Felsing graduated with honors from the University of California, Davis. He received a Master’s Degree from the University of Chicago and worked as a political and economic risk consultant in Chicago before joining the State Department. He is a recipient of the Department of the Army’s Superior Public Service medal and several Superior Honor Awards from the Department of State. He speaks French, Chinese, Urdu and Japanese. He is joined in Japan by his wife Jinnie and their two sons.
Dr. Yoshinao MISHIMA is the President of the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) and a leading figure in materials science and engineering. With a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Mishima’s career spans academia and government, including roles as Professor and President of Tokyo Institute of Technology, as well as Director at various research centers. He has held key positions such as Executive Director at NEDO and Program Director for Japan’s Strategic Innovation Program (SIP). Throughout his career, Dr. Mishima has been instrumental in advancing research in materials science and medical innovation, helping to shape Japan’s scientific and technological landscape.
12:45 P.M. – 1:45 P.M.
SESSION 1: INGREDIENTS FOR A SUCCESSFUL TRANSPACIFIC BIOTECH COMPANY
Seth Flaum is a partner in the New York office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and a member of the technology transactions practice. With more than 25 years of broad transactional experience, he represents life sciences companies in a wide range of strategic transactions and corporate matters.
Prior to joining the firm, Seth was executive associate general counsel for Daiichi Sankyo, Inc., a global pharmaceutical company based in Japan, where he advised on an array of strategic transactions and managed a team of lawyers and business professionals responsible for implementing the company’s global business development transactions. In this role, Seth counseled on strategic transactions, collaborations, licensing agreements, research and development agreements, and other commercialization related transactions. He also has experience with public and private M&A transactions, and has advised on antitrust issues and filings, FINRA inquiries, SEC filings, and corporate governance matters.
Before joining Daiichi Sankyo, Seth was a senior associate at Ullman, Shapiro & Ullman, LLP in New York.
Mr. Mori has been Chief Executive Officer and has served as a member of the Board since SanBio’s inception in 2001. Prior to founding SanBio, Mr. Mori was Head of New Product Development from 2000 to 2001 at Xuma, an informatics startup in San Francisco. From 1993 to 1999, Mr. Mori held positions of increasing responsibility in R&D and Manufacturing at Kirin Holdings, Ltd. in Japan. Mr. Mori holds an MBA degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a master’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of Tokyo.
Haru is a dynamic entrepreneur and investor whose leadership and strategic vision have led Modalis (TSE 4883) to success since its inception in 2016. He has 30 years of experience in the biotechnology industry, including as CEO of REGiMMUNE, which he founded to harness the power of regulatory T cells to manage difficult-to-treat immune disorders such as GVHD. Before that, he held a leading role at Y’s Therapeutics, which was developing novel antibody therapeutics. In addition, at Kirin (merged with Kyowa Kirin), he played an important role as a researcher, and at Booz Allen Hamilton (merged with PwC’s Strategy &), he was involved in numerous projects in various industry sectors.
As the head of the investment team at a general trading firm, Ryo has driven numerous domestic and international business investments, M&A, and venture investments across various sectors. Ryo also has launched new businesses such as electric vehicle battery charging infrastructure services and smartphone applications to call EV cabs. Since 2015, Ryo joined Kyoto University Innovation Capital Co., Ltd. where he invested in Thyas Co. Ltd. Since 2020. Ryo has served as the representative director of Thyas, and led the corporate inversion of Thyas to transform into a US entity, Shinobi Therapeutics, Inc. Currently as the Head of Business Operations, Japan, of Shinobi, Ryo contributes its finance in the US which summed up to US$119M, including grant from Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development. Graduated from the Faculty of Law at Kyoto University. MBA from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University.
2:00 P.M. – 3:00 P.M.
SESSION 2: GETTING THE INSIDE SCOOP ON VC’S
Takashi Futami is an experienced healthcare investor, entrepreneur and executive. At ANV, Takashi leads the formation of startups based primarily on research emanating from research institutions.
Starting a career as a researcher at Astellas Pharma Inc., he led and managed more than 10 drug discovery projects, focusing on oncology and metabolic disorders. Takashi then, joined a corporate venture capital fund in Menlo Park/Cambridge and invested in startups. He also managed collaborations with academic institutes.
In 2020, Takashi joined Fast Track Initiative in the key role of overseeing global investment and company creation from academic discoveries via the identification and evaluation of new life science technologies. He was co-founder of reverSASP Therapeutics and other incubating assets based on Japanese academic discoveries.
He is currently a Specially Appointed Professor at Tohoku University, Visiting Professor at Nagoya University, Fellow at Kyoto University, and Fellow at RIKEN. He also serves as a member of the Expert Council for the Global Startup Campus Initiative of the Cabinet Office.
Takashi’s goal is to transform innovations in academia, especially in Japan, into actual products that improve people’s lives and society.
Azusa Shiohara is an investment professional in the field of biotech investments. She joined UTEC in September 2021, where she focuses on seed and early-stage investments. Prior to her role at UTEC, Azusa worked as a manager on the biotech and healthcare team at Arthur D Little, a global management consulting firm. There, she specialized in supporting clients in the life science sector with new business development and R&D strategies. Azusa holds an MBA from the London Business School and an MSc in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Tokyo.
Kathryn Zavala, PhD, is Chief Operating Officer of MedTech Innovator, the largest accelerator of medical devices in the world. In 2016, she helped spin the nonprofit entity out of the venture capital firm where it was founded and has been instrumental in expanding the organization. To date, MedTech Innovator has supported 612 alumni that have gone on to raise over $7.8 billion in follow-on equity funding and achieved 45 exits. In 2021, Kathryn launched and now serves as Managing Director of BioTools Innovator, a new program powered by MedTech Innovator to support life science tools.
Kathryn previously held positions at the UCLA Technology Development Group, where she assisted with the commercialization of university technologies, and at Campbell Alliance (now Syneos Health), where she developed launch strategies for biopharma clients. Kathryn received a Bachelor’s degree in Molecular and Cell Biology and Rhetoric from UC Berkeley and a PhD in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology from UCLA.
Takeshi Takahashi is a Managing Director with Catalys Pacific. He holds extensive experience in M&As, IPOs, and financing in the healthcare sector. Prior to Catalys Pacific, he worked for the investment banking division of Morgan Stanley for 12 years and played a significant role in over 30 distinguished transactions including, but not limited to, Japanese companies’ acquisitions of U.S. listed companies with an enterprise value of over US$10.0 billion, acquisitions of global healthcare companies with an enterprise value of over US$5.0 billion, and a number of alternative financing transactions. Prior to working for Morgan Stanley, Takeshi was an analyst and a portfolio manager for global and Japan fixed income and managed a $3.0+ billion portfolio in Japan and the U.S. at Merrill Lynch’s asset management division.
Takeshi graduated from Waseda University with a degree in Political Science and Economics, and holds an M.B.A. from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Proficiently bilingual and bicultural.
3:15 P.M. – 4:15 P.M.
SESSION 3: INDUSTRY/POLICY EXPERTISE
After graduating from Jichi Medical University, he began practicing general medicine in the rural areas of Japan. Fumiaki joined the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Stanford University in 2001, and was closely involved with the R&D, animal studies, and clinical studies of many medical device startups. He is also actively involved in projects with the US and Japanese regulatory agencies working to create an effective cross-border medical device eco-system. Fumiaki has also been an advisory faculty for the Stanford Biodesign Program since 2014. He is deeply involved with the development of the Japan Biodesign Program and is working diligently to establish a Silicon Valley-like medical device eco-system in Japan.
Ms. Oishi is the President and COO of CMIC HOLDINGS Co. Ltd., responsible for group-wide business execution.
Ms. Oishi received her Master of Science degree from the University of Tokyo. She started her career at Nikkei McGraw-Hill, Inc. in Japan (now renamed Nikkei Business Publications), as a staff writer for Nikkei Biotech, the first Japanese newsletter specializing in biotechnology. She accumulated her biotechnology industry career through working in Genzyme Japan, Ltd., and Genentech, Ltd., a Japanese Branch of Genentech, Inc. in the U.S.
Ms. Oishi joined CMIC in 1996, as Manager of the Strategy Development Department. Over the past 20 years, she has been responsible for International Business and Corporate Development, covering Japan, Korea, China, Singapore, Taiwan and other regions in Asia Pacific, as well as for International Business Development which function could bring in foreign pharma and biotech companies that are interested in drug development in Japan and Asia, to start their regulatory and clinical activities in the region. With her broad international experience and strong leadership, she continuously leads the company to further globalization.
Prof. Koyanagi is a highly accomplished business development professional with deep expertise in the medical startup ecosystem. At Kyoto University, he led collaborations between academia and major pharmaceutical, diagnostics, and telecommunications companies, driving next-generation medical innovations. Currently, he oversees partnerships between startups and the university hospital, acting as a key connector among global life sciences stakeholders. Since 2016, he has been the lead advisor for HVC KYOTO and co-founded the Research Studio program during his tenure as a professor at the University of Tsukuba’s Medical School. Prof. Koyanagi also brings extensive marketing and project management experience from his work with multinational corporations and startups. He earned his Ph.D. from Osaka University and completed post-doctoral training at Stanford University.
Mr. Mizutani joined to Ministry of Health and Welfare (MHW) (former Ministry of Health, Labour
and Welfare (MHLW)) in April 1997. He experienced various work in Health Policy Bureau, Minister’s Secretariat, Health and Welfare Bureau for the Elderly, Health Insurance Bureau, Social Welfare Bureau, Department of Health and Welfare for Persons with Disabilities an Office for Social Security of MHW/MHLW, and First Secretary at the Embassy of Japan in Washington, DC. He also worked as Director, Office for Dementia, MHLW, Director for General Coordination, Minister’s Secretariat, MHLW, Secretary to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, Director for General Coordination, Minister’s Secretariat, MHLW, Counsellor for General Coordination, Minister’s Secretariat, MHLW, Secretary to the Chief Cabinet Secretary and Director, Division for the Coordination of Health Care and Long-term Care, Health Insurance Bureau, MHLW.
4:30 P.M. – 5:00 P.M.
SESSION 4: STAGES OF A STARTUP & THE ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET
Rieko Yajima is the Director of Drug Discovery Innovation at Stanford SPARK. At SPARK, she works with researchers and a community of volunteer industry advisors to de-risk the science in drug discovery and diagnostic projects, and to identify the quickest path to the clinic. She has a Ph.D. in chemical biology and served as a science policy fellow at the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. Her previous roles include being an Associate Program Director at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington, DC, where she advised the scientific community on interdisciplinary research collaboration, implementation, and evaluation, and being a Research Scholar at the Center for Design Research at Stanford University.
SPARKing an ecosystem for translating academic research into innovative therapies in Japan
Drug Discovery is a complex, expensive, and slow process that suffers from a high failure rate owing to scientific uncertainties and the high bar needed to achieve human safety and efficacy. Our academic research institutions play a vital role in unraveling these mysteries in human biology and serve as a vital engine for launching biomedical discoveries that result in FDA drug approvals. Since the founding of Stanford SPARK in 2006, we have facilitated more than 200 project teams in drug discovery innovations – 50% of which go on to license their technologies to bio-pharma/startup companies or have led to clinical trials. I will discuss how SPARK has built an ecosystem to support translational research and how we are bringing this approach to Japan.
5:00 P.M. – 6:30 P.M.
NETWORKING RECEPTION HOSTED BY CMIC
- Welcome by Keiko Oishi | President and COO, CMIC HOLDINGS Co. Ltd.
