Review
Takashi Kiyoizumi, MD, PhD, SM
Dr. Takashi Kiyoizumi is a life science entrepreneur and executive with over 30 years of experience as well as a board certified plastic surgeon. As a founding President and CEO of MediciNova, he raised over $190 million in private placements and a successful IPO, within 5 years of inception. Prior to founding MediciNova, he was President and CEO of Tanabe Research Laboratories, USA (U.S. affiliate of Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma). Since 2005, he has been an active angel investor/board member with various life science ventures in San Diego.
- M.D. and Ph.D. from Keio University School of Medicine
- MBA from Sloan School of Management at MIT
Sadashi Suzuki, MBA
Mr. Suzuki started his 40+ yrs career in healthcare/life sciences with Kyowa Hakko. Recently, he held a series of management positions at Japan divisions of global companies, Baxter Japan, Alcon Japan, and Affymetrix Japan (CEO), Bio-Rad Laboratories Japan (CEO),Cepheid Japan,(CEO). Currently, he is the head of the Japan office of Newton Biocapital (Belgium base VC). He has extensive experience working with Japanese regulatory authorities on securing the approval of medical devices, testing equipment, reagents and compounds.
- MBA from Kellogg School at Northwestern Univ.
Takashi Futami, PhD, MBA
Dr. Futami is currently a venture capitalist at a Japanese venture capital. He was previously a senior manager at Astellas Pharma Inc (f.k.a. Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd), for the Corporate Planning Division. Having started his career at Astellas as a researcher, he has engaged in a series of drug discovery research in the fields of oncology and lifestyle-related diseases. He has also been a corporate venture capitalist at Astellas Venture Management, a venture capital arm in Menlo Park.
- MS in Chemistry and Biotechnology from The University of Tokyo
- PhD in Life Science Innovation from University of Tsukuba
Hajime Oshita
Hajime has over 20+ years of experience in the medical device industry, including venture capital and operating companies. He started medical device investment to U.S. startups from Tokyo in 1997 and then was hired by a VC in Silicon Valley in 2005. Innovative products developed by portfolio companies are saving patients worldwide such as Pipeline Fowdiverter Stent, developed by Chestnut Medical, the first treatment device for giant intracranial aneurysms. After 5 years of medical device investment in the U.S., he founded MedVenture Partners, Inc., in 2013, a VC focused on medical device.
Yoshiharu Mizui, PhD
President of Eisai Innovation, Inc. & Head of Cambridge office
Yoshiharu Mizui founded Eisai Innovation, Inc. in 2019. Prior to that he was a global head of the BD/Strategy Department in Oncology Business Group at Eisai from 2016-2019. He was also a founding member of H3 Biomedicine and lead the oncology program from 2011-2016. He has more than 20 years of experience as a discovery research biologist. He received his Ph.D. from Kyushu University.
Fumitaka Mori, PhD
Partner at Taiho Innovations, LLC
Dr. Mori is a senior member of Taiho Innovations, which focuses on seed to early stage investments and company creation, following 5 years of venture investments at Remiges Ventures Boston. Prior to his experience in Venture Capital firm, he has over 12 years of experience in drug discovery research, strategic research planning, research alliances and portfolio strategy at Taiho Pharmaceutical. He received his Ph.D. in Clinical Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Shizuoka.
Ryutaro Adachi, PhD
Director of Corporate Venture Investment in Eisai Co., Ltd.
Ryutaro Adachi is a director of Corporate Venture Investment in Eisai Co., Ltd. and engaged in global strategic investment activity since he has joined in 2020. Prior to that he was a director of a venture investment team in Shinsei Corporate Investment Limited, where he engaged in principal and fund investment activities for technology startups. He started his carrier as a biologist at Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, where he engaged in multiple drug discovery programs. He received his MS from Osaka University and Ph.D. from University of Tsukuba.
Justin Klein, MD, JD
Justin Klein, MD, JD is a co-founder and Managing Partner at Vensana Capital. Justin was previously a partner and leader of the medical technology investing practice at NEA, one of the largest and most active venture capital firms in the world. Justin also worked at the Duke University Health System where his experience included roles in strategy, finance and operations as Duke built one of the nation’s first integrated healthcare delivery systems. Justin currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Medical Device Manufacturers Association and that of AdvaMed Accel, where he is the Chair of its MedTech Investment Working Group. Justin graduated with an AB in Economics, a BS in Biological Anthropology & Anatomy, and a Minor in Chemistry from Duke University. He also concurrently earned his MD from the Duke University School of Medicine and his JD from Harvard Law School.
Marc Martin-Casas, PhD
Marc joined Illumina Accelerator in 2019, where he manages seed investments and venture development in the genomic and precision medicine spaces. Previously, Marc led Biotech Connection – Bay Area, an incorporated nonprofit that accelerates innovation and development for biotech startups and big pharma by bringing together academic scientists, entrepreneurs, and investors. Prior to that, Marc was on the investment team at Lam Research Capital, where he sourced and performed diligence on life science investment opportunities. Marc earned his Ph.D. in Computational Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, where he focused on the development of novel tools to characterize, model, and predict heterogeneous behavior in cell populations and other complex biochemical systems.
Takuma Aoyama, MBA, MHCDS
Mr. Aoyama is the founder of AIFAM Group, a global investment management company focused on Japanese Institutions. Mr. Aoyama is responsible for the overall investment strategy of the group which spans the alternatives spectrum. Prior to founding AIFAM, Mr. Aoyama was with UBS Global Asset Management at their then-headquarters in Chicago as well as Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan (Tokyo and New York). Additionally, Mr. Aoyama is responsible for the creation of multiple businesses and financial products, many of which have been strategically acquired. Mr. Aoyama received his MBA from the University of Chicago and his MS in Healthcare Delivery Science from Dartmouth College.
Tetsuya Kurihara
Partner at Shinsei Capital Partners, Ltd.
Mr. Kurihara joined Shinsei Capital Partners in 2019 and focuses on biotech investment with New Life Science I Fund. Previously, he was in charge of academic-industrial alliances, CVC investments, and incubation activities at Bayer in Japan / Germany. He also worked in the Investment Banking Division of Citigroup, where he provided M&A and financial advisory services to healthcare clients. He is a graduate of the University of Tokyo.
Dai Tsujikawa, MBA
Partner at JIC Venture Growth Investments Co., Ltd.
Dai Tsujikawa joined JIC Venture Growth Investments (JIC VGI), a venture capital managing a Japanese government-backed fund, in 2020 and focuses primarily on investments in the life science and healthcare sectors. Since 2004, he has invested in about 80 startups, mainly in the healthcare, IT, and technology sectors through Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital, Shinsei Capital Partners, and JIC VGI. Prior to that, he has worked at GE Healthcare and at Toshiba.
- BE in Mechanical Engineering from Osaka University
- MBA from Keio Business School
Awareness Building / Education
Tomoyoshi Koyanagi, PhD
TBAP Support Member. Professor, Faculty of Medicine. Head of Translational Research Promotion &Education Center, Tsukuba Clinical Research & Development Organization, University of Tsukuba.
Dr. Koyanagi is a business development professional with hands-
on experience in supporting startups in the medical field. At the University of Tsukuba, he co-founded Research Studio powered by SPARK, a platform for fostering medical entrepreneurs. Prior to his academic career as an entrepreneurship trainer, he worked as a marketing and project management specialist in multinational corporations and start-ups. He received post-doctoral training at Stanford University and a PhD from Osaka University.
Taruho Kuroda, PhD
Dr. Kuroda is the senior director of an external innovation arm of a global pharmaceutical company. He started his career as an academic scientist and performed his research at RIKEN, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute / Harvard Medical School, and Mie University Graduate school of Medicine. He was previously the alliance manager / senior scientist at Open Innovation Center Japan of Bayer. He currently also serves as a Program Champion for Venture Cafe Tokyo’s Life Science Cluster to drive the formation of the innovation ecosystem in Japan.
- B.A. and Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical sciences from Hokkaido University
Administration
Hiroyuki Okano
Mr. Okano joined AIFAM in 2001 and has been involved with various aspects of its fund of funds business including, fund analysis, investment and operational due diligence, and launching new businesses. In 2020, he played a key role in launching TBAP, and currently serves as its officer. He began his career at the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan where he managed a team on the foreign fixed income desk. From 1999, he was a global fixed income portfolio manager at Nomura Asset Management. Mr. Okano is a Chartered Member of the Security Analysts Association of Japan.
- BA in Law from Waseda University
