Founder members

Juran Kato, Ph.D.
President and CEO, Founder
Appointments/Education:
2017 Associate Director, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited
2012 Associate Director, Extra Value Generation Drug Discovery Unit
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited
2006 Principal Scientist Oncology Drug Discovery Unit
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited
2000 Assistant Researcher, Postdoctoral fellow
University of California, Los Angeles
2000 Ph.D. (Molecular Biology), Tokyo Institute of Technology
1996 Lecturer, International Christian University
Honor/Awards:
Drug Discovery Unit Head Award, Research Division Head Award, Department Head Award (Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited)
Brigid G. Leventhal Scholars in Cancer Research Award for the promising female researcher (AACR)
Patent:
1 substance patent
1 utility patent
Selected publications:
1) Signal Transduction Second Edition (article in Japanese) Ed Y. Kaziro and Satoh (2011) MDSi
2) Career path 101 for PhDs in Bioscience Majors (article in Japanese) Ed. Miura and Sengoku (2009) Yodosha

Mami Ojima
Director & CKO, Co-Founder
- Track record of INDs of Candesartan, ARBs, ACEi and PPAR agonist, etc.
- Pharma presidential award
Appointments/Education:
2017 Principal Scientist, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited
1997 Principal Scientist, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases Drug Discovery Unit
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited
1980 Research Scientist, Cardiovascular Diseases Pharmacology Unit
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited
1980 College of Medical Technology,Kyoto University
Honor/Awards:
Takeda Global Award, Pharmacology Department Head Award, 1989 President Award (Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited)
Patent:
More than 1 substance and utility patent
Selected publications:
1) Ojima et al., 2011, J Pharmacol Exp Ther.
2) Ojima et al., 1997, Eur J Pharmacol.
3) Ojima et al., 1996, Jpn Pharmacol Ther.

Lili Mao, PhD
CSO, Co-Founder
- Biochemistry
- Project leader for drug repositioning
- Extensive experience in project management of CRO operation
- Inventor of technology patents
Appointments/Education:
2017 Principal Scientist, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited
2015 Postdoctoral Fellow, Extra Value Generation Drug Discovery Unit
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited
2012 Postdoctoral Associate, University of Minnesota
2010 Research Associate, Postdoctoral Fellow, Rutgers University
2010 Ph.D. (Biochemistry) University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
Honor/Awards:
2011, 2010, Technical Highlight, PSI/Nature Structural Biology Knowledgebase
Patent:
2 Technological inventions
Selected publications:
1) Mao et al., 2013, Encyclopedia of Biophysics
2) Mao et al., 2012, Methods in Molecular Biology
3) Mao et al., 2010, J. Struct Funct Genomics
4) Hosomi et al., 2018, An integrative approach using real-world data to identify alternative therapeutic uses of existing drugs, Plos ONE

Takako Naito, RPh
Research Alliance, Chief,
Co-Founder
- Track record of INDs including Cefozopran, Ceftaroline, etc.
- Expertise in multiple disease areas

Katsuo Midoro, DVM, PhD
Quality Assurance, Chief
Co-Founder
- Track record of INDs of Celmoleukin, etc.
- Expertise in quality assurance and safety
Other members

Akiko Oka
General Affairs
Executive Secretary

Kazuo Maruhashi PhD
Senior Advisor
CMC
- Over 15 years of experience as head of pharma CMC organization
- Advisor for multiple CROs and academia
Current affiliate:
Advisor, Chemical Trading Company and CRO
Researcher, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tokyo University
Appointments/Education:
2008 Ace Japan (Manufacturing control of APIs, Process development)
2007 Mitsubishi Corporation(China R&D division、Process development)
1991 Taiho Pharma(Quality control of APIs for clinical studies)
1979 Wako Pure Chemical Corporation(Examining manufacture processes)
Consultant

Andrew Baxendale, PhD
Senior Advisor
Clinical Strategy & Global BD
- 30 years’experience in drug discovery and development across a wide range of therapy areas and organizations (GSK, Daiichi-Sankyo, UCB, Takeda, Cycle Pharma)
- BD as consultant for Takeda

Guido Hanauer, DVM, PhD
Senior Advisor
Preclinical development & Translational research
- 30+ years of experience in discovery, preclinical development and translational medicine for Byk Gulden, Altana Pharma, Nycomed and Takeda
- 27 patents, Brought 20 compounds to clinical development
Science Medical Officer

Masayuki Ito,MD, PhD
Chief Medical Science Advisor
- Specialist in pediatric rare diseases
- Lead of clinician for JPN MLHW rare disease study group
- Manages rare disease national registry