Delivering keynote addresses at the Investing in Japanese Regenerative Medicine symposium were two distinguished speakers: Japan’s minister of health, labor and welfare Keizo Takemi and Norimasa Nakamura, a professor at Osaka Health Science University’s Institute for Medical Science in Sports and a guest professor at Osaka University’s Global Center for Medical Engineering and Informatics.

Two industry authorities discussed the Japanese framework for promoting the development of regenerative medicine and issues for that framework. The speakers were Daisaku Sato, the councilor for Pharmaceutical Affairs in Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, and Hideyuki Okano, the president of the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine.

The Investing in Japanese Regenerative Medicine symposium included presentations by the CEOs from five Japanese ventures in the symposium’s namesake field: Kenichi Akamatsu, of Kyoto-based Megakaryon; Masaya Matsumoto, of Hiroshima-based Twocells; Keiichi Fukuda, of Tokyo-based Heartseed; Kenji Nonaka, of Kanagawa-based Orizuru Therapeutics; and Daniel Kemp, of Kyoto- and San Francisco–based Shinobi Therapeutics. Each introduced his company and its technological thrust.

Nikkei’s Investing in Japanese Regenerative Medicine symposium brought together four representatives of four Japanese biotechnology companies and representatives of two venture capital firms that are active in the biotechnology sector. Two carryovers from the previous session were Twocells CEO Masaya Matsumoto and Shinobi Therapeutics CEO Daniel Kemp. Joining them from the biotech sector were Yoh Hamaoka, the chief financial officer at Shiga-based Takara Bio and Shizuka Akieda, the CEO of Tokyo-based Cyfuse. Representing venture capital firms were Shinichiro Komoto, a partner at Eight Roads, and Ken Horne, the managing partner at AN Venture Partners.

Delivering the closing remarks at the Investing in Japanese Regenerative Medicine symposium was Kazuto Ihara, the administrative vice minister in the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. Ihara reiterated the commitment to building a global drug discovery ecosystem voiced by health minister Keizo Takemi in his keynote address. And he added a personal perspective on the global dimension of that commitment.