https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/23/12/21/11450/
Sysmex has acquired additional shares of Megakaryon, a company with technology to generate platelets from iPS cells, making it a consolidated subsidiary as of December 20, 2023.
Megakaryon is a startup established in September 2011 to commercialize the research results of Professor Hiroyuki Eto and his team at the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) of Kyoto University. The company has the technology to create immortalized megakaryocytes by introducing genes into heterologous iPS cells, which are then multiplied and mature into platelets. Sysmex invested in Megakaryon in December 2017 and has been working with the company to develop a quality control method for human iPS cell-derived platelets. Since iPS cell-derived platelet preparations are made from iPS cells, they are expected to reduce the risk of infection and allergies compared to blood donations, have a longer shelf life than blood-derived products, and can be manufactured in a planned manner, thereby enabling a stable supply. On the other hand, production cost is extremely high because of the use of iPS cells as raw material. Sysmex will thus proceed to develop an automated manufacturing system for human iPS cell-derived platelet preparations. In addition, Sysmex plans to investigate the possibility of producing coagulation factor preparations from iPS cells. Currently, these are made from animals.
Sysmex is currently focusing on the area of regenerative cell medicine. In November 2023, AlliedCel (Kobe, Japan; Hiroyuki Sonoda, President), a joint venture between Sysmex and JCR Pharma, acquired JUNTEN BIO a former joint venture between JCR Pharma and AlliedCel focused on immune-tolerant cell drugs