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On Thursday, September 26, 2024, the opening ceremony for the Keio University Regenerative Medicine Research Center and the kick-off symposium for the Cluster for Regenerative Medicine in Tonomachi Haneda were held at the Shimadzu Tokyo Innovation Plaza in Tonomachi, Kawasaki City. The center was established to advance research in regenerative medicine, treatment options, and disease prevention, as well as to develop and train talented professionals essential to these research areas. The center is located at King Skyfront, an international research hub and it is expected to lead to further progress in the fields of regenerative medicine and drug discovery.

■Keio University Regenerative Medicine Research Center (in Japanese): https://krm-rc.jp/

The opening ceremony for the Keio University Regenerative Medicine Research Center

Many distinguished guests from various fields, including industry, academia, politics, and government, attended the opening ceremony. Professor Hideyuki Okano, director of Keio University Regenerative Medicine Research Center, and other officials from Keio University were also in attendance.

Keio University President Kohei Itoh started things off with a few opening remarks, followed by a special address by President Kiyotaka Hoshinaga of Fujita Health University. President Hoshinaga spoke passionately about the collaboration between the center and Fujita Health University and the advancement of regenerative medicine. After this, other speakers took to the stage to express their congratulations. First, Toshiharu Furukawa, an alumnus of the Keio University School of Medicine and member of the House of Councilors, expressed his high hopes for Keio University and its leadership in regenerative medicine. This was followed by a video message from the governor of Kanagawa Prefecture, Yuji Kuroiwa, who emphasized the importance of collaboration between industry, government, and academia at King Skyfront. Next, the mayor of Kawasaki City, Norihiko Fukuda, expressed his expectations for Kawasaki City to grow as an international hub for research in the field of regenerative medicine. Other government agencies also offered their congratulations. Hirokazu Shimoda, director of the Bio-Industry Division, Commerce and Information Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), stressed the importance of public support in the development of the regenerative medicine industry. Hiroyuki Kamai, director of the Life Science Division, Research Promotion Bureau at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), expressed his intention to continue supporting efforts to link basic research with clinical applications. In addition, Shinichi Takae, director of the Medical Device Evaluation Division, Pharmaceutical Safety Bureau at the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), elaborated on legal provisions and institutional support required to promote the real-world application of regenerative medicine.

From the private sector, President Keiichi Fukuda, CEO of Heartseed Inc., a leader in the regenerative medicine industry, and Professor Emeritus at the Department of Cardiology, Keio University School of Medicine, gave a speech while drawing on his experience in the industry, expressing his hopes for the future of regenerative medicine.

Director Hideyuki Okano presented an overview of the center's activities, explaining in detail the center's mission, as well as its main research themes, such as cellular regenerative therapy for spinal cord injuries and other injuries, development of new drugs from iPS cells (induced pluripotent stem cells) to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease and other related diseases, and research on the common marmoset, a next-generation model in primate genomics. Citing the example of Kendall Square in Boston, USA, a research and innovation hub for life science, Director Okano emphasized that the creation of a sustainable ecosystem and investment in talent development are essential for the practical application of regenerative medicine. He went on to elaborate on how the center will develop world-class cutting-edge research by fostering the next generation of researchers and deepening collaboration between industry, academia, and government.

In his closing remarks, Keio University Vice-President Masayuki Amagai, who is also director of the Keio University Frontier Research & Education Collaborative Square (K-FRECS), highlighted Keio's contribution to creating a world-class industrial infrastructure and advanced research with the Cluster for Regenerative Medicine in Tonomachi Haneda. The center forms the core of Keio's research contributions and is located at the heart of Tonomachi, Kawasaki City and Haneda in Ota Ward.

■Cluster for Regenerative Medicine in Tonomachi Haneda (CREAM TONOHANE)

The Cluster for Regenerative Medicine in Tonomachi Haneda (CREAM TONOHANE) was created as a platform to accelerate the real-world application and global development of regenerative medicine and cell therapy. It is located in the central area between Tonomachi District, Kawasaki City, in Kanagawa Prefecture, and Haneda District in Ota Ward of Tokyo. As a hub for regenerative medicine in eastern Japan, CREAM TONOHANE aims to advance research and development by bringing together universities, corporations, and public research institutions. The cluster has also been selected as an indirect recipient of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's “Research Grant for Projects that Develop an Environment Conducive for Social Implementation of Regenerative Medicine, Cell and Gene Therapy” under the supplementary budget for fiscal year 2022. With cell samples provided from hospitals, including the Keio University Hospital, research institutions at Tonomachi and Haneda conduct quality analysis and standardization to establish a set of scientific criteria for the evaluation of cells. Based on these criteria, cells for regenerative medicine products will be manufactured, with the ultimate goal of providing regenerative medicine treatment at the Fujita Health University Haneda Clinic and the Keio University Hospital. The Tonomachi secretariat office is located in the Keio University Tonomachi Town Campus while the Haneda District secretariat office is located in the Fujita Medical Innovation Center Tokyo, thereby facilitating smooth and efficient operations for the cluster.

The kick-off symposium for the Cluster for Regenerative Medicine in Tonomachi Haneda

At the symposium that was held after the opening ceremony, Professor Yashiro Yoshimi, the director of the cluster's planning division and professor at the Fujita Health University Integrated Education and Development of Research Talent Center, delivered the opening remarks and served as the facilitator for the session. Professor Masaya Nakamura from the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Keio University School of Medicine, who is also the chairman of the cluster's steering committee, then gave an overview of the center's initiatives and goals. The cluster received numerous messages of support and well-wishes, including one from Masayo Takahashi, CEO of Vision Care Inc., who emphasized his commitment to advancing the field of regenerative medicine in Japan.

The following four speakers gave commemorative speeches.

・Yasuda Satoshi (Facilitator), Director, Division of Cell-based Therapeutic Products, National Institute of Health Sciences (NIHS)

・Reina Kodera, Deputy Director, Bio-Industry Division, Commerce and Information Policy Bureau, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)

・Shin Kawamata, CEO, Cyto-Facto Inc.

・Jun Kawai, Part-time researcher, Next-Gen Life Science Technology Development Project, Kanagawa Institute of Industrial Science and Technology (KISTEC)

・Yasunori Aizawa, Associate Professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology (School of Life Science and Technology)

・Kenichi Harada, Representative Director, Regenerative medicine & cell therapy Industrialization Network of Kanagawa (RINK)

A reception was held after the opening ceremony, where the governor of Kanagawa Prefecture, Yuji Kuroiwa, honorary chairman of Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Osamu Nagayama, and CEO of International Medical Information Center, Yoshiaki Toyama, delivered their remarks. More than 160 guests, including speakers, from industry, academia, politics, and other diverse fields attended the symposium, engaging actively with each other about the future development of the center and the cluster.