your cancer, your cell, your cure

Yasumichi Hitoshi

M.D., Ph.D.

Joint-Representative Director, CEO/CTO

Yasumichi Hitoshi M.D. Ph.D., Joined Thyas in 2017. Trained in Immunology, >18 year experience in oncology and metabolism research & development in the US. Being involved in development of T cell therapeutics for clinical testing at Thyas Co. Ltd.. Served as an assistant professor at Kumamoto U. and at Inst. Med. Sci., U. Tokyo, Studied as a Post-Doc at Stanford U. Joined Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc. and held a position as VP since 2009 to 2016.

Message

Recent advances in medical sciences have delivered novel therapeutics, re-activating and boosting selective cytotoxicity of immune cells against cancers, are demonstrating great potential to cure cancer patients. However, it is still challenging to apply those therapeutics to all patients due to their limited efficacy and indications.
Thyas is developing allogeneic iPS cell-derived T cells (iPS-TTM) for immediate attention, and autologous iPS-TTM for durable responses and cure, to adapt any condition of each cancer patient. iPS-TTM has great potential to cure cancers of unmet needs.
We are working hard to deliver iPS-TTM to all patients as soon as we can. Our first clinical trial is coming up in a few years.
Thank you very much for your continuous support.

February 2021
Yasumichi Hitoshi MD.PhD.
CEO/CTO

Ryosuke Gonotsubo

MBA

Joint-Representative Director, COO/CFO

Serves as director at Thyas since 2017, and took office as representative director since Aug. 2020. >25 year experience in investment and corporate/business planning. Worked at Japanese general trading firm as a manager of investment /business development team, promoted global business investments. Specialized in investment in university startups at Kyoto University Innovation Capital Co., Ltd. since 2015. 
LL.B., Kyoto University. MBA, at Carnegie Mellon University.

Message

The world’s first university biotech was founded in 1976 in the U.S.A. by a venture capitalist and scientists. The success of the company arouse the heated debates on conflict of interest of university researchers, which finally led to the legislation of the Bayh-Dole Act in 1980. Following the path those pioneers paved, 40 years later in Japan, Thyas is run by a scientist and an ex-venture capitalist and striving to achieve its goal. As an ex-university venture capitalist and current representative director of a university startup, I cannot help but feel grateful about the every efforts made by our predecessors to establish the infrastructure of university startups.
It is an exciting challenge to develop the next-gen cancer immunotherapy with iPSC technologies invented in Japan. And the Thyas team are working hard to deliver the therapy to everybody’s “someone precious,” wishing smiles of patients’ and their family’s. Thank you very much.

Sincerely,
February 2021
Ryo Gonotsubo

Shin Kaneko

M.D., Ph.D.

Scientific Founder, Director

Holds a position as a professor at the Center for iPS cell Research and Application, Kyoto University, and the Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba. An internationally renowned professor and authority on T cell differentiation from iPS cells. Served as the Director and the head of the Facility of iPS Cell Therapy (FiT), Kyoto U. An Expert on Japanese regulations on cell therapy and regenerative therapy products. Received M.D. and Ph.D. at Tsukuba U. (Immunology) and trained as a Post-Doc at San Raffaele Sci. Inst., Italy. Previously served as an assistant professor at Inst. Med. Sci., U. Tokyo, Japan and moved to the present position in 2012.

Publication

・A clinically applicable and scalable method to regenerate T-cells from iPSCs for off-the-shelf T-cell immunotherapy. Nat Commun. 2021 Jan 18;12(1):430. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-20658-3. PMID: 33462228.
・Targeted Disruption of HLA Genes via CRISPR-Cas9
Generates iPSCs with Enhanced Immune Compatibility.
Cell Stem Cell. 2019 Apr 4;24(4):566-578.
・Enhancing T Cell Receptor Stability in Rejuvenated iPSC-
Derived
T Cells Improves Their Use in Cancer Immunotherapy.

Cell Stem Cell. 2018 Dec 6;23(6):850-858.e4.
・Generation of rejuvenated antigen-specific T cells
by reprogramming to pluripotency and redifferentiation.

Cell Stem Cell.　2013 Jan 3;12(1):114-26., and many others

Hiroyuki Ueno

Ph.D.

Director

Holds a position as the director of the Investment Department at Kyoto University Innovation Capital Co., Ltd. Also serves as a director of Thyas since 2017. Obtained Ph.D. Osaka University. Involved in drug development and target discovery for cancers and urologic diseases at Takeda Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co Ltd, and Organon Co., Ltd.

Yoshimoto Katsura

Ph.D.

Scientific Advisor, Founder

Co-founder of Thyas Co., Ltd. Served as a professor at the Institute of Tuberculosis and Chest Diseases, and the Institute of Regenerative Medicines, Kyoto University, Awarded as a professor emeritus at Kyoto University, Graduated from Department of Physics, the Faculty of Science, Kyoto University, Studied functional diversity of helper T cells and T cell differentiation in thymus, and identified the existence of T cell progenitor and differentiation process of hematopoietic lineage cells. Established the Kyoto T cell conference (KTCC) in 1991, where international interaction among scientists involved in T cell research was promoted. Served as a scientific advisor on immunology and cancer immunotherapy at Thyas Co., Ltd..
・1963: Graduated from Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Kyoto U.
・1977: Professor at the Institute of Tuberculosis and Chest Diseases, Kyoto U.
・1997: Professor at the Institute of Regenerative Medicines, Kyoto U.
・2002: Guest professor at the Faculty of Medicine, Nippon U. and at Tokyo Medical and Dental University
・2013: CEO, AsTlym Co., Ltd.
・2016: President, Thyas Co., Ltd.
・2017: Scientific advisor, Thyas Co., Ltd.