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TOKYO Biotech DAY by TIB CATAPULT/LINK-BioBAY TOKYO

LINK-J, BioLabs, and Mitsui Fudosan have been selected by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government for the “TIB CATAPULT (Cluster Creation Project for Challenging Global Innovation),” and have launched the operation of a startup incubation cluster in the life science field “LINK-BioBAY TOKYO”, a startup incubation cluster in the life science field.
Through the collaboration of the three parties with proven track records in Japan and the U.S., we will provide various support measures that will contribute to the global growth of Japanese life science startups.

We are pleased to announce an upcoming event associated with the
BioLabs Masterclass Program.

This event will feature a pitch contest by life science startups selected for the program. 
Awards will be presented based on both judges' evaluations and audience votes.

We will also host sessions on the life science ecosystem and startup support - great for discovering new trends and collaboration opportunities.
Prior to the start of the event, we will host a lab tour of Mitsui Link-Lab Shinkiba 2, where participants will be guided through parts of the research facilities.

We warmly welcome all those interested in life science startups and startup support systems to join us.
 
<What is LINK-BioBAY TOKYO?>
- Innovation cluster selected for TIB CATAPULT
- Collaboration between LINK-J, Mitsui Fudosan, and BioLabs (global incubator)
- Establishment of Nihonbashi & Shinkiba life science startup incubation bases
- Provision of laboratory space, experimental equipment and other equipment, and business support programs
- Holding matching events and other events to promote exchange of human resources, assets, and funds
- Mentoring and incubation program provided by BioLabs

TOKYO Biotech DAY by TIB CATAPULT/LINK-BioBAY TOKYO

Click to open PDF

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Date: Thu, October 16th, 2025 3:45PM-7:30PM (3:00 Doors Open, 3:20-3:45 Lab Tour, 3:45-7:30 Pitch event and Networking)

Venue:

Mitsui Link-Lab Shinkiba 2 Conference rooms ABCD
1-17-8, Shinkiba, Koutou-ku, Tokyo

Register here!

(Opens an external site)

Registration due date

Tue, October 14th, 2025 11:00PM *Registration will close as soon as capacity is reached.

*If you would like to participate in the lab tour, please check "Lab Tour" in the checkbox when you register.
*Please arrive at the venue by 3:20 PM on the day of the event if you are joining the lab tour.

Program

1. Lab tour

TimeAgenda
3:00PMDoors open
3:20-3:45Lab tour of Mitsui Link-Lab Shinkiba 2

2. TIB CATAPULT/LINK-BioBAY TOKYO Pitch event & Networking

TimeAgenda
3:45-4:00PMOpening
4:00-4:30Keynote panel discussion

<Moderator>
Ikuo Hayashi, Ph.D. (General Manager, LINK-J)

<Panelists>
Mr. Hirokazu Shimoda (Senior Director, Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED))
Takashi Futami, Ph.D. (Partner, AN Venture Partners)

*Japanese 
4:30-5:45Pitch contest by life science startups selected for the masterclass program

CancerFree Biotech
INOPASE Inc
MiRNDa, Inc.
Sothis Technologies Inc.
Theta Therapeutics, Inc.

*English
5:45-6:00Judging and awards

<Judges>
BioLabs
LINK-J
Takashi Futami, Ph.D. (Partner, AN Venture Partners)
and more

*English
6:00Closing

*English
6:00-7:30Networking reception

Language  Lab tour: Japanese / Pitch event: Japanese and English *Simultaneous interpretation is available

Speakers

 Mr. Hirokazu Shimoda
Senior Director, Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED)
Takashi Futami, Ph.D., MBA
Partner, AN Venture Partners

15y experiences in R&D/CVC/Open Innovation/corporate planning in Pharmaceutical company and VC firms, including company creations. Takashi is also a specially appointed professor at Tohoku University, visiting professor at Nagoya University, visiting professor at Okayama University, fellow at Kyoto University, fellow at RIKEN, member of the Cabinet Office Global Startup Campus Initiative Expert Council, and expert committee member of the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (CSTI), and is contributing to the revitalization of Japan's ecosystem. (Doctor of Medical Science, MBA)
Dr. Laura Stevens 
Sr. Project Manager Business Development, BioLabs

Laura Stevens, PhD, is a Senior Project Manager in the Business Development group at BioLabs. Biolabs is a global operator of laboratory co-working facilities for life science start-ups.  Dr. Stevens manages BioLabs’ portfolio of business expansion projects, with a focus on new markets in North America and Asia. Dr. Stevens is also responsible for the development and deployment of enterprise-level company management processes to enable strategic growth, business case evaluation and feasibility, and efficient project execution.  
A scientist by training, Dr. Stevens has a PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, where her work focused on tissue regeneration and wound healing.  Following graduate school, Dr. Stevens moved to Boston, MA, where she worked as a senior research scientist at multiple start-up pharmaceutical companies, developing small molecules targeting autoimmunity and inflammation indications.   Transitioning to the business side of biotech, Dr. Stevens managed multi-national, high-throughput screening projects, as well as daily lab and business operations, for a an early-stage startup company developing inflammatory cell death therapeutics.   As a former resident of BioLabs’ sister company, LabCentral, Dr. Stevens has first-hand experience as a user working within the BioLabs/LabCentral business model.  
Dr. Stevens is based at BioLabs’ headquarters office in Cambridge, MA.
Ikuo Hayashi, Ph.D.
General Manager, LINK-J

After working as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Tokyo, he worked as a researcher at pharmaceutical companies both domestically and internationally. In May 2020, he joined the Bayer's Open Innovation Center Japan, where he was involved in managing startup support programs and shared labs. Since May 2023, he has been in his current position, contributing to the cultivation of the life sciences innovation ecosystem. He is a licensed pharmacist and holds an MBA from the University of California, San Diego. 
Hiroko Yasuga, Ph.D. 
Producer, LINK-J

 Worked as a research assistant in a pharmaceutical company before going to the UK, where studied immunology at Imperial College London (ICL). After studying at ICL, undertook doctoral research on autoimmune diseases at Nanyang Technological University/Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore. Later, returned to Japan and worked in medical affairs for major pharmaceutical companies, where involved in pre-launch activities for new drugs in the immunology field and post-launch activities for drugs in the neurological disease field.
Since July 2024, started the current position and contributing in fostering the life science innovation ecosystem, promoting overseas collaboration and the accelerator programme UNIKORN at the Life Science Innovation Network Japan (LINK-J). Doctor of Science.


Startups

Company NameOverview
CancerFree Biotech

[Company Overview]
CancerFree Biotech specializes in the cultivation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs), focusing on individualized analysis. Our CTC-derived organoid (CDO) system supports doctors and patients in selecting optimal cancer treatments and helps minimize unnecessary drug use. We also collaborate with pharmaceutical companies to reduce animal testing by providing alternatives like AI-based models and organ-on-a-chip platforms. By enabling early prediction of clinical trial outcomes and identifying promising directions, our approach contributes to a “sandbox clinical trial” ecosystem that accelerates safe, cost-effective drug development.

[Expectations and Aspirations for this program]
Through the Masterclass Program, We hope to gain practical insights from industry leaders and fellow participants. By deepening my understanding of innovation strategies, global market entry, and scaling sustainable biotech businesses, we aim to further refine our company’s expansion strategy in the Japanese market. We also look forward to building meaningful networks that could lead to future collaborations and strategic partnerships. 

INOPASE Inc

[Company Overview]
INOPASE is a clinical-stage medical device company pioneering personalized Closed-loop neuromodulation for treatment of chronic neurological diseases. Based in Japan with a subsidiary in Australia, our team is actively collaborating with partners globally to develop the next-generation Closed-loop sacral neuromodulation device to revolutionize care for patients with overactive bladder. Since its foundation in 2021, the device has demonstrated successful pre-clinical PoC in animal studies, paving the way for the clinical PoC study in Japan and Australia in 2025.

[Expectations and Aspirations for this program]
With our clear vision to the US market entry, we are looking for the connections with the US medtech investors through the BioLabs program support to prepare for the Series A funding in 2026. We are optimistic that our unique closed-loop neuromodulation technology meets the interests of the US investors and strategic partners. We are passionate about joining the BioLabs program to help us speed up the process to bring our technology to the patients in need.

MiRNDa, Inc. 

[Company Overview]
We are a startup company aiming to realize a world in which cancer can be cured through the social implementation of cancer screening based on our proprietary RNA modification technology. We are advancing product and business development to bring screening services for cancers with high unmet medical needs into daily clinical practice—starting with pancreatic, liver, and gallbladder cancers, which have particularly low five-year survival rates. 

[Expectations and Aspirations for this program]
Our aspiration to join this program is refining the strategy into specific operational plans - specifically breaking down Go-To-Market strategy in the U.S. into granular action plans. Definitely, we need to develop the business model and build the relationships with the relevant stakeholders in the U.S. market that are systematically different from those in Japan market. In this situation, we have no doubt that we foresee a tons of challenges from pre-clinical stage to commercialization stage as well as difficulties of team formation & fundraising in the U.S. market. For tackling with all of these matters, we’d like to utilize this exceptional opportunity. 

Sothis Technologies Inc.

[Company Overview]
Sothis Technologies is developing a self-service nucleic acid testing platform that delivers rapid, highly sensitive diagnostics without requiring on-site healthcare staff. Initially targeting deployment in clinical settings such as hospitals and clinics, our long-term vision is to make the system accessible in public spaces through regulatory advancement. Built on over two decades of research at the University of Tokyo, our compact and automated platform aims to reshape how society accesses diagnostics - anytime, anywhere.

[Expectations and Aspirations for this program]
Through the Masterclass Program, we aim to refine our strategy to transition from research-use-only to regulatory-grade clinical products. We seek guidance on business development, regulatory pathways, and investor readiness, as well as connections to pilot sites and early adopters. In addition, we hope to build a network of experts who can support long-term efforts toward regulatory innovation, enabling broader public access to diagnostics in non-clinical settings in the future.

Theta Therapeutics, Inc.

[Company Overview]
Theta Therapeutics is bio-startup based on lab achievement at a university. We Theta focused on formulation development of macrocyclic drug candidates for intractable and rare diseases. Macrocyclic drugs are next-generation therapeutics with intermediate molecular weights and cyclic structures, distinct from conventional small molecules, nucleic acids, or antibodies. While these agents show promise in various diseases including malignant tumors, development often halts due to challenges such as poor solubility, toxicity, or inadequate target delivery. Our mission is to overcome these limitations by developing novel formulations that retain the efficacy of macrocyclic compounds while improving solubility, safety, and reducing side effects.

[Expectations and Aspirations for this program]
Through the Masterclass Program by LINK-J and BioLabs, we aim to gain insights into business development, joint research, and fundraising as a bio-startup operating in both Japan and the U.S. We also seek to build networks with mega-pharma and venture capital. By leveraging this program, we are committed to accelerating our efforts so that our innovative therapeutics can reach patients worldwide as quickly as possible.

*Alphabetical order

Target

In-person: LINK-J members, supporters, LINK-BioBAY TOKYO partners, affiliated organizations (organizers/co-organizers), or guests who have received an invitation.
Online: Open to everyone.

Participation Fee

Free

Capacity

60 people

Organizer

Organizer: LINK-J / Co-Organizer: Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd, BioLabs

Contact

LINK-J secretariat contact@link-j.org

TOKYO Biotech DAY by TIB CATAPULT/LINK-BioBAY TOKYO

Click to open PDF

49102_ext_26_0

Date: Thu, October 16th, 2025 3:45PM-7:30PM (3:00 Doors Open, 3:20-3:45 Lab Tour, 3:45-7:30 Pitch event and Networking)

Venue:

Mitsui Link-Lab Shinkiba 2 Conference rooms ABCD
1-17-8, Shinkiba, Koutou-ku, Tokyo

Register here!

(Opens an external site)

Registration due date

Tue, October 14th, 2025 11:00PM *Registration will close as soon as capacity is reached.

*If you would like to participate in the lab tour, please check "Lab Tour" in the checkbox when you register.
*Please arrive at the venue by 3:20 PM on the day of the event if you are joining the lab tour.

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