Under our corporate philosophy of “realizing and fostering a warm, hope-filled society where no patient, regardless of their disease, has to abandon hope due to a lack of treatment options or lament the inability to receive optimal care,” the Company is dedicated to the creation of messenger RNA (mRNA)-targeted pharmaceuticals
Our long-term objective is to “establish our standing as a specialty pharmaceutical company” by 2030. In this context, a specialty pharmaceutical company is defined as a pharmaceutical firm that specializes in specific disease areas or drug modalities and consistently manages the entire process from novel drug discovery to research and development, manufacturing, and sales. Through the pursuit of this long-term objective, the Company aims for sustained growth and contributions to society. To achieve this goal, the Company has outlined a three-stage growth strategy.
In the initial stage, the Company established a platform-based business by leveraging “aibVIS,” our proprietary mRNA-targeting drug discovery platform which serves as the cornerstone of our operations. This involved initiating collaborative drug discovery research with multiple pharmaceutical companies, thereby building our revenue foundation and record. During this phase, milestones achieved with partners, such as Shionogi & Co., Ltd., not only demonstrated the enhancement of our technological prowess and practical utility but also contributed to securing stable medium-to-long-term revenue streams.
With our stock listing in February 2024, the Company transitioned into the second stage. The Company is currently advancing a hybrid business model that harnesses the technological capabilities cultivated through our platform business to simultaneously commence the robust development of our in-house pipeline. Within this framework, the Company aspires to develop a preventive drug for acute renal failure as our first in-house pipeline candidate in FY2025, with the goal of creating a second pipeline candidate by the end of FY2026. Furthermore, preparations are actively underway for the commencement of non-clinical trials for our first in-house pipeline. Additionally, driven by the objective of addressing pharmaceutical challenges, the Company is dedicating significant efforts to the commercialization initiatives for “Perfusio,” our unique drug delivery system (DDS). By realizing its practical application as a medical device that fundamentally reduces clinical trial periods and costs by FY2027, the Company aims to achieve monetization of our in-house pipelines at a comparatively early stage.
As the culminating phase on our journey to becoming a specialty pharmaceutical company, while continuing to advance our hybrid business model, the Company will secure the requisite organizational structure, functions, and human resources essential for a specialty pharmaceutical company. This will enable us to establish a robust framework poised for sustained growth.
Specialty pharmaceutical companies represent a prevalent business model, particularly in the United States. Most mid-sized healthcare companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ that have maintained growth for over a decade post-listing have adopted this business structure.
Consequently, to ensure the continuous provision of pharmaceuticals to society, the Company is striving to become a specialty pharmaceutical company.
Through this strategic pursuit of becoming a specialty pharmaceutical company, the Company believes that it will not only enhance shareholder value by achieving stable and sustainable growth in the medium to long term but also fulfill our corporate philosophy by establishing a system capable of responsibly delivering pharmaceuticals developed with our technology to society.
In recent years, particularly among major pharmaceutical companies in the United States, there has been a pronounced trend towards de-emphasizing in-house, de novo drug discovery in favor of prioritizing the acquisition of drug candidates (assets) developed by other companies. This trend has extended to pharmaceutical companies in Japan and Europe, leading to a global decline in collaborative drug discovery research agreements aimed at creating new drugs with pharmaceutical partners.
In this prevailing external environment, the Company acknowledges that, irrespective of the superiority of our platform technology, platform-based businesses engaged in collaborative drug discovery research with pharmaceutical companies as partners are encountering significant headwinds.
In response to these evolving environmental dynamics, the Company is strategically addressing them through the following three core pillars:
1. Deepening and Expanding Our Platform Business
- Steadily advance existing collaborative drug discovery research and generate successful case studies in mRNA-targeted small-molecule drug discovery.
- Execute high-future-value project agreements with initiative-taking domestic and international biotechnology companies.
- Conclude agreements with pharmaceutical companies for projects that will yield immediate revenue.
2. Creation and Expansion of Our In-house Pipeline
- Develop in-house future assets that are sought after by pharmaceutical companies.
- Pipeline 1 (p53-targeted ASO): Achieve early monetization by fundamentally reducing clinical trial costs and timelines through the application of our proprietary drug delivery system “Perfusio.”
- Target the creation of Pipeline 2 within FY2026 (including the filing of a patent application for the substance).
3. Stabilization through Business Diversification
- Enter the agrochemical business by capitalizing on the broad applicability of our technology.
- Advance the commercialization of the “Perfusio” drug delivery system itself.
As part of our strategic roadmap to establish a strong foothold as a specialty pharmaceutical company by FY2030, the Company designate FY2026–FY2027 as “a period for executing investments to realize future sustainable growth.” Our policy is to make strategic upfront investments necessary to achieve revenue expansion and recoup investments from FY2028 onwards. The Company will implement initiatives that contribute to sustainable shareholder value enhancement across both our platform business and pipeline business, while also progressing the commercialization of our drug delivery system and the relocation and expansion of our research facility. The five key initiatives for FY2026 are outlined below:
- Advance business development while adapting to changes in the external environment, also considering expansion into Europe and applications in agrochemicals.
- Aim to discover drug candidate substances with high future value and file corresponding patent applications.
- Strive to fundamentally reduce non-clinical and clinical trial costs by leveraging Perfusio.
- Establish alliances with medical device manufacturers and propel initiatives towards commercialization.
- Expand the research institute to accommodate increasingly sophisticated research content and to enhance the working environment for researchers, among other objectives. Consequently, the relocation to a new facility in March 2026.
Through these concerted efforts, the Company aims to secure a short-to-medium-term revenue base, continuously generate high-future-value assets, and thereby elevate shareholder value and realize our corporate philosophy.