COMPANY
Mission
To advance transformative medicines originating from academic research and to address unmet medical needs.
To advance transformative medicines originating from academic research and to address unmet medical needs.
Leadership Team
Chief Executive Officer
B.A. in Economics, Keio University. Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities and MitsubishiUFJBank in investment banking and corporate finance, reaching the level of Executive Officer, both domestically and internationally. Appointed President & CEO of rVirogen, Inc. in 2023. Oversees overall management, long-term business strategy, VC/PE fundraising, and strategic partnership and licensing negotiations.
Director, Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer
B.A. in Economics, Keio University. Previously in corporate finance and project finance at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and Director at Hourai Co., Ltd. As COO & CFO of rVirogen, oversees project management (PMO), CMC operations and external liaison, CDMO/CRO management and supervision, AMED and public grant administration, financial strategy and capital policy, and general corporate administration including HR.
Director, Chief Scientific Officer
Ph.D. in Science, Chiba University. Former Associate Professor, Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo. Leads R&D strategy and roadmap,Preclinicaldirecting preclinical studies (efficacy and safety), biomarker strategy development, academic collaboration management, and scientific evaluation of pipeline candidates.
Outside Director
Ph.D. in Engineering and M.B.A., Tokyo Institute of Technology. Former President of Sumika Technical Information Service and Director at Sumitomo Chemical. CurrentlyKOKUSAI ELECTRICOutside DirectorProvides independent board oversight from both management and technology strategy perspectives.
Kazuki Okada(Outside Audit & Supervisory Board Member)Partner, Vanguard Tokyo Law Office
Scientific Origin & Advisors
In the course of studying measles virus, she independently established a reverse genetics system for wild-type measles virus strains. Using this system, she generated SLAM-blind measles virus and discovered that it selectively kills Nectin-4-positive (SLAM-negative) cancer cells at high rates, leading to the development of Panectin® with AMED support.
She is the only Japanese researcher to receive funding from CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations), leading an international US-Europe-Japan consortium to develop a Nipah virus vaccine (fatality rate ~75%, BSL-4). This work continues with support from AMED/SCARDA.
Advisors
Former Executive Officer, Regenerative Medicine & Pharmaceutical Division, FUJIFILM; Former Head of Business Development, Takeda Pharmaceutical
Former Bonac Corporation; Former IP Division, Japan Tobacco
Former NanoCarrier; Former Boehringer Ingelheim Clinical Development Division
Newsight Tech Angels CEO. Former GSK, Merck, Pfizer (R&D andBusiness Development)
Former Head of Research, NanoCarrier; Former Head of Manufacturing Technology, Bushu Pharmaceuticals; Former Zeria Pharmaceutical
Senior Manager, Global Vaccine Business Unit / Japan Vaccine Manufacturing, Takeda Pharmaceutical
Company Overview
| Company Name | rVirogen, Inc. |
| Founded | February 2019 |
| Address | 3F, Daiichi-Hoki Head Office Building, 2-11-17 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0062, Japan |
| Paid-in Capital | ¥100 million (as of December 31, 2025) |
| Representative | President & CEO, Yumesaku Ishigaki |