Event: The Potential of Okinawa and Kyushu in Shaping Future Deep Tech

• Decarbonization & Energy Storage
• Next-Generation Power Systems
• Marine Technologies & Geopolitics

• Pharmaceuticals & Regenerative Medicine
• Aging Society Solutions
• Global Clinical Trial Pathways

Dr. Tadahisa Kagimoto
"Global Trends Shaping Research and Technology"

Saisei Ventures: Dr. Hikaru Saito & Dr. Yusuke Wada
"Understanding Research Translation: Three VC Perspectives"

Domain-Based Discussions
1. Energy
2. Pharma & Regenerative Medicine

Tadahisa "Hardy" Kagimoto
Founder, Chairman and CEO of Healios K.K. Founder,
Chairman of Power X

Dr. Tadahisa “Hardy” Kagimoto, MD, is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Healios K.K., a biotechnology company leading the development of stem cell derived regenerative therapies to treat major areas of unmet medical need, including solid tumors, ischemic stroke, and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Prior to founding Healios, Dr. Kagimoto founded and ran as President and CEO Aqumen Biopharmaceuticals K.K., a biotechnology company that developed the de facto standard adjuvant used in eye surgery on a worldwide basis. Prior to founding Aqumen, Dr. Kagimoto was a clinical ophthalmologist. Dr. Kagimoto graduated from Kyushu University School of Medicine, and he holds patents in the US, Europe, Japan and China.

Hikaru Saito
Partner, Saisei Ventures

Hikaru Saito is a partner at Saisei Ventures located in Tokyo, Japan, where he is responsible for a variety of duties related to Japan strategy for Saisei Ventures including deal opportunity sourcing, transacting, building a team in Japan, integration into the local ecosystem by connecting with potential partners, investors and government initiatives. Prior to Saisei, he was a senior investment manager at Astellas Venture Management, the corporate venture capital arm of Astellas Pharma, based in San Francisco Bay Area. In this role, he was responsible for the end-to-end deal process on opportunities globally in RNA, cell and gene therapy, performing due diligence, transacting deals, and providing portfolio companies with input from the pharma perspective as a board observer. Additionally, he led strategic partnerships with US and EU-based venture capital funds, accelerators and institutions.

He started his career as a research scientist at Astellas Pharma Pharmaceutical Research and Technology laboratories after completing his graduate studies, where he developed formulations of both small molecules and engineered biologics for investigational and commercial use. He was also involved in process development and validation of aseptic biological products for GMP manufacturing. During this time, he served as a visiting scientist at The Institute Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, and as a research fellow in Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. After a 6-year tenure as a scientist, he pivoted his scientific career into a global business professional. Following an internal competition, he was selected to join an entrepreneurial business development division which was newly established at Astellas, called as Astellas Innovation Management (“AIM”).

He has co-authored more than 10 peer-reviewed articles related to multidrug resistance against anti-tumor agents, on which were cited so far for over 650 publications and several granted patents. Dr. Saito received his B.E. in Biotechnology, his M.E. and Ph.D. in Biomolecular Engineering from Tokyo Institute of Technology.

Yusuke Wada
Senior Associate, Saisei Ventures

Yusuke Wada is a senior associate located in Tokyo, where he conducts deal opportunity sourcing and due diligence, and supports new company creation activities with a focus on a scientific and technical strategy.

Previous to Saisei, Yusuke served as a senior scientist at Universal cells, an Astellas company located in Seattle, WA, USA. During his 5-year tenure, he led a team and developed cell differentiation protocols and characterization methodologies for multiple immune cells derived from gene-edited universal donor iPSCs to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases.

Prior to joining Universal Cells, he served as a senior pharmacology researcher at Astellas Pharma, where he proposed and led multiple drug discovery projects, demonstrating preclinical proof of concepts to advance toward clinical stages. Over his 15-year tenure at Astellas, he has driven more than 15 drug discovery projects spanning various diseases including kidney diseases, diabetic complications, muscle diseases, autoimmune diseases, and cancer. His experience encompasses diverse modalities including small molecules, antibodies, protein degraders, and AAV-engineered cell products, covering early development stages in Biotech and early-to-late stage drug discovery research in Pharma. Dr. Wada received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from University of Shizuoka.