About Us

After my retirement from the University of Tokyo in March 2022, I was given the opportunity to maintain a laboratory. Having fully enjoyed many years of research on TGF‑β family signaling, I decided that after retirement I would rename the laboratory “Applied Pathology” and pursue research on somewhat different projects. Fortunately, Dr. Ryo Tanabe, a researcher in our laboratory, discovered a protein that could be a  therapeutic target for  brain tumors (Glioblastoma). We have been conducting research with the aim of developing an antibody drug against this target protein and advancing it toward clinical application. However, we had no prior experience in the development of antibody therapeutics. Initially, we thought large proteins might be unsuitable as therapeutic agents due to the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Then we learned that camelids like alpacas produce small antibodies composed only of heavy chains. We therefore generated antibodies by immunizing alpacas. Although alpaca-derived antibodies have the advantage of being small, they have the drawback of an extremely short half-life in the bloodstream. To address this issue, we decided to extend their half-life by adding the Fc region of human antibodies.  

Believing that we had developed a promising antibody, we consulted with a number of pharmaceutical companies. However, we were ultimately turned down by more than twenty companies, which made us aware of the difficulty of drug discovery. The main reasons given were that glioblastoma has a relatively small number of patients—about two thousand per year in Japan—and that the BBB would likely pose an obstacle for antibody therapeutics. When we consulted neurosurgical specialists, they expressed the view that in brain tumors the BBB is already disrupted. Nevertheless, companies were reluctant to help us. The recently approved Alzheimer's drug Lecanemab is an antibody drug targeting amyloid‑β. We explain that antibody therapeutics can also be effective in Alzheimer’s disease, but the response has not been very enthusiastic. We were advised that we start our own startup company for clinical application, and we explored this possibility. However, perhaps due to the high risk of drug discovery ventures, this too proved difficult. Still, by persistently continuing to consult with people, we found interested parties in Sweden, where we had previously studied abroad, and little by little a clearer prospect for the future has begun to emerge.