TOKYO, Dec 20, 2022 - (JCN Newswire) - TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K. (Head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director & CEO: Koichiro Tanaka), which operates the TANAKA Precious Metals manufacturing business, announced today that it has made an equity contribution to the medical venture capital fund Diamond Medino Capital (DMC) No. 1 Investment Limited Partnership founded in Japan by Professor Terumitsu Hasebe (Professor, Faculty of Medicine, School of Medicine, Tokai University; Visiting Professor, Keio University School of Medicine; Visiting Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Harvard Medical School; medical doctor, PhD in Medicine, and PhD in Engineering). This is Japan's first medical venture capital fund established with an active medical professor serving as its representative. Through this equity contribution, TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo will contribute toward technological development in Japan's domestic medical and healthcare industry.
Background and Objectives
TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo decided to undertake this equity contribution as the company supports the fund's principle of establishing a medical venture ecosystem originating from Japan. TANAKA has previously worked with Professor Hasebe on national projects (under the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development) for the joint development of advanced medical technologies, such as metal coils for embolization and long patency stent systems. The company is participating in this fund as the anchor limited partner to pursue the potential of precious metals — from a comprehensive perspective for the future of medicine and not just in terms of products and projects — and contribute to Japanese society.
Currently in Japan, companies continue to face difficulties with rapid and sophisticated research and development due to issues such as fund procurement, a sense of urgency, and a shortage of human resources. In addition, there are cases where academic research groups with excellent technologies do not reach commercialization. Regarding these issues, this fund will support Japan's new and current medical ventures by closely assisting them in terms of human resources, capital, management, pharmaceutical, patent, exit, and other strategies. In this way, the fund will contribute to the well-being of patients by giving birth to venture companies with excellent academic technologies in the medical field, achieving early practical application of those technologies, and providing new medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, and medical-related services to medical frontlines. Furthermore, the fund seeks to realize a true ecosystem that uses the knowledge gained and human resources developed to take on challenges in new projects and research themes, as well as support future entrepreneurs.
Additionally, the fund has the strength of being deeply involved in support of its investments from its unique position not found in other Japanese medical funds so far, such as its understanding of needs at the frontlines of medicine, knowledge regarding the latest technological trends, and the responses of Japan's and the United States' governments toward practical application.
Through equity contribution to this fund, TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo also expects to strengthen relationships with Japan's medical ventures and expand future medical business, such as the development of new products and technologies, in the healthcare industry. The company will contribute to society by working on the social issue of establishing a medical venture ecosystem in Japan through this equity contribution.
Professor Hasebe, the representative of Diamond Medino Capital Co., Ltd., which manages this fund, made the following comment regarding TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo's participation in the fund, "TANAKA Precious Metals is always seeking to contribute to the creation of a prosperous society as well as to the future of the planet through sustainable use of precious metals as a leading company in the field of precious metals. TANAKA deeply empathizes with our fund's principle of establishing a true ecosystem that helps achieve the early practical application of Japan's excellent core medical-related technologies and conveys them to the world, and I am very happy to be able to journey into the future together. In the past, I have built a profound relationship of cooperation with TANAKA in the application of high-value-added precious metals in medical devices, and I hope to demonstrate significant synergy through new challenges."
About the Medical Venture Ecosystem
Traditionally, an ecosystem refers to a state in which living things survive through a cycle of interdependence. Modeled after such a system, in a medical venture ecosystem, companies and funds come together to support medical ventures with technological capabilities and future potential to build a sustainable cycle of new technology and product development in Japan while inheriting expertise gained through the development of new technologies. This fund is the first in Japan to be led by active parties in the field of medicine and aims to establish a medical venture ecosystem originating from Japan by supporting medical ventures.
Profile of Professor Terumitsu Hasebe
Terumitsu Hasebe, medical doctor, PhD in Medicine (Keio University), and PhD in Engineering (Keio University)
・Professor, Faculty of Medicine, School of Medicine, Tokai University; Visiting Professor, Keio University School of Medicine
・Visiting Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)/Harvard Medical School
・AMED BRIDGE Project Leader (Seeds F)
Professor Hasebe established the Hasebe Research Group, which combines medical science and engineering within Keio University's Faculty of Science and Technology. After obtaining his PhD in Engineering, while as a medical doctor, he undertook the development of medical devices with various global manufacturers. An example of one of his developments is the launch of the cerebral thrombosis stent retriever of Biomedical Solutions Inc. — Professor Hasebe was in charge of the entire preclinical study for the patent application in 2019 — that has become a premier device and continues to save many patients today. During the COVID-19 pandemic, to search for a new way to bring excellent academic technologies in Japan to the world, he launched this venture capital fund. He is an active medical doctor who has received more than 30 academic awards in Japan and overseas and is also a researcher and venture capitalist.
Overview of DMC No. 1 Investment Limited Partnership
Fund name: DMC No. 1 Investment Limited Partnership
Established: November 2022
This is a medical venture capital fund originating from Japan, with Professor Terumitsu Hasebe — an active medical professor with a PhD in Medicine as well as a PhD in Engineering — serving as its representative. The fund specializes in medical device and pharmaceutical development businesses, carrying out hands-on investments in venture companies from the seeding phase of research and development to the patent approval phase. It was launched to establish a medical venture ecosystem in Japan by providing research and development environments on par with those overseas and supporting Japan's medical ventures.
About TANAKA Precious Metals
Since its foundation in 1885, TANAKA Precious Metals has built a portfolio of products to support a diversified range of business uses focused on precious metals. TANAKA is a leader in Japan regarding the volumes of precious metals handled. Over the course of many years, TANAKA has not only manufactured and sold precious metal products for industry but also provided precious metals in such forms as jewelry and assets. As precious metals specialists, all Group companies in Japan and around the world collaborate and cooperate on manufacturing, sales, and technology development to offer a full range of products and services. With 5,225 employees, the Group's consolidated net sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022, were 787.7 billion yen.*
*From the current consolidated fiscal year, the amounts of sales for some transactions are indicated as net values due to the application of the Accounting Standard for Revenue Recognition.
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