Organization of Future Medicine

About me

Private-sector-led industry-academia-medical collaboration
Supporting future medical care
Developing the next generation of talent

未来医療推進機構
理事長 澤 芳樹

Organization for Advanced Healthcare Innovation
Chairman Sawa Yoshiki

The International Center for Future Medicine (Nakanoshima Qross) aims to put "future medicine" into practice. Future medicine refers to future medicine that is even further ahead than the cutting-edge medical treatments that are already being provided. We aim to be the first in the world to carry out a medical treatment that does not yet exist as a first-in-human trial (clinical trials in which the treatment is administered to humans for the first time), and for that medical treatment to be implemented in society and become "the norm around the world."

To achieve this, a system that can solve problems while examining the needs of both the industry and the medical world is essential. Until now, it has been difficult to link academic research to social implementation, or for companies to work side by side with academia until social implementation. Nakanoshima Qross, which brings together companies, medical institutions, and support organizations, can solve this problem.

By consolidating all facilities under one roof, the facility has become a place for co-creation, enabling one-stop research and development of seeds (the technologies and know-how that form the basis of development) and also allowing the developed data to be smoothly linked to other subsequent research and development projects.

Furthermore, we believe that the "Qrossover Lounge Yume" will be a place for interaction where everyone involved in the base can freely exchange information, which will generate new ideas and ultimately accelerate the speed at which ideas can be implemented in society.

Human resource development is also important. At Nakanoshima Qross, the core is an ecosystem that fosters researchers and researchers. In the United States, if you have the ability, students or researchers can start up a venture company, and there is a system in place to support this. However, this situation is not yet the case in Japan. In the future, we plan to focus on human resource development through the base's ecosystem.

Contract drug manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) are essential for bringing regenerative medicine to practical use in society. CDMOs are organizations that undertake everything from the development of manufacturing processes for regenerative medicine products to clinical trial drug and commercial production. For example, to create a sheet of cells that can be transplanted into the heart, at least 10 iPS-derived cells are needed.⁸ It is necessary to increase the number of cells by culturing until they reach the individual cells. In other words, in order to put regenerative medicine into practical use in society, a CDMO with the technology to mass-produce cells at a pharmaceutical level, which is difficult to do, is needed. Nakanoshima Qross also urgently needs to establish one.

Another feature of the base is that it is open to the general public. In particular, the participatory programs for elementary, middle, and high school students will help them realize that the power of science can change the world and save lives. We hope that the children who participate will grow up to be scientists, politicians who understand the importance of science, educators, and other future game changers.

Towards establishing a future medical innovation ecosystem

Nakanoshima Qross aims to create an ecosystem where industry and medicine can collaborate and cooperate with each other in order to promote the industrialization of "future medicine." The ecosystem requires three functions: human resource development to teach entrepreneurship, incubation to develop startups internationally, and open innovation where companies, including those overseas, cooperate with each other.

Nakanoshima Qross is equipped with these functions, and the discerning members of the Future Medicine Promotion Organization will also provide support for things necessary for a company's growth, such as complying with the laws and regulations required for social implementation and fundraising.

Furthermore, to promote future medicine and take regenerative medicine one step further in its industrialization, Nakanoshima Qross has designed a platform where all players can come together under one roof, eliminating the physical distance between organizations and providing a one-stop service. This service will provide a window for companies, including startups, and medical institutions to address needs and issues related to the regenerative medicine business, and will develop a system that can provide one-stop support for the regenerative medicine supply chain, from market exploration to treatment.

By accelerating these efforts, Nakanoshima Qross hopes to contribute to the industrialization of future medical technologies and to making an international contribution through the provision of future medical care.

Operating entity