What's New

SCAD’s Schwann Cell- Facilitated Nerve Regeneration Breakthrough Published in Neuroscience Insights.

Through collaborative research with Kyoto University Hospital, SCAD confirmed that transplanting human iPS cell–derived Schwann cells into injured rat sciatic nerves promotes nerve regeneration and functional recovery. These non clinical findings support the potential of this approach as a new treatment for neurological disorders with high unmet medical needs, such as carpal tunnel syndrome and spinal cord injury.

An R&D consortium including SCAD, Yokogawa Electric Corporation, and the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), Kyoto University, has been selected as one of the FY2025 programs of Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) for “Fundamental technology development toward the industrialization of regenerative medicine and gene therapy”.The project aims to develop an automated manufacturing platform for cell therapy products, and SCAD is working to develop automated manufacturing methods for clinical-grade ES cell-derived Schwann cells.
For details, please see the Yokogawa Electric Corporation news release below.

再生医療等製品の製造自動化プラットフォームを開発するコンソーシアムを構築 | YOKOGAWA

At the 25th Congress of the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine (March 19–20), we will present the results of our development of a clinical manufacturing method for Schwann cells derived from clinical-grade human embryonic stem cells for the treatment of nerve damage, along with our quality and safety evaluations (March 19, Abstract No. P-11-15).
In addition, the Graduate School of Medicine at Kyoto University, with whom we are conducting joint research, will present the results of a study verifying the efficacy of cell transplantation therapy using our ES cell-derived Schwann cells in a rat sciatic nerve crush model (March 20, Presentation Number P-28-31).
These research findings demonstrate the utility of our Schwann cells as a cell transplantation therapy for various types of nerve damage, with potential for clinical application.

The 25th Congress of the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine

At the Joint Pitch Event hosted by IHK Darmstadt and the Kyoto Chamber of Commerce and Industry (January 21, 2026, Kyoto Economic Center), our CEO, Kato, will give a presentation. He will talk about the latest developments in Schwann cell therapy.

Joint Pitch Event by the IHK Darmstadt and Kyoto CCI

We have been selected as one of six companies to advance past the document screening for the “JHVS Venture Awards 2025.”

We will be presenting our pitch at the Japan Healthcare Venture Summit (JHVS) 2025 venue around 3:30 PM on October 9th. We will also have an exhibition booth open until October 10th, so please stop by.

Our booth：V-40

King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center & C3 Davos of Healthcare™ Japan Summit (September 24, 2025, Okura Hotel, Tokyo) will feature a presentation by our Representative Director, Kato. This conference is an international gathering on healthcare in Saudi Arabia, the United States, and Japan, hosted by King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre (KFSH&RC), which promotes world-class medical care and cutting-edge research in Saudi Arabia. Our company was recommended by JETRO New York as one of five Japanese startups developing innovative medical technologies.

King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center & C3 Davos of Healthcare™ Japan Summit "A TRI-NATION COLLABORATION: BUILDING BRIDGES BEYOND BORDERS IN HEALTHCARE"

We will be exhibiting at the Japan Healthcare Venture Summit (JHVS) from Wednesday, October 8, to Friday, October 10, at Pacifico Yokohama. The JHVS is held concurrently with Bio Japan 2025.

Our booth：V-40

We present the status of clinical development preparations of Schwann cell therapy for damaged nerves, along with functional cell assays using Schwann cells, motor neurons, and skeletal muscle tissue created by SCAD.

NIKKEI Asia has published coverage of the NIKKEI Drug Discovery Ecosystem Summit (June 24-25). Our presentation is featured in “Nikkei Drug Discovery Startup Pitch Finalists: Day 2.”

NIKKEI Drug Discovery Ecosystem Summit

An article about SCAD was featured in today's August 7 edition of the Nikkei Newspaper's Drug Discovery Ecosystem Summit special report. It states that SCAD is rushing to prepare for clinical trials of Schwann cell therapy.

We are pleased to announce that Kensuke Kato, CEO of our company, has been selected as a finalist for the venture pitch at the Nikkei Drug Discovery Ecosystem Summit, which will be held at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo on June 24 and 25. He will talk about the latest developments in Schwann cell therapy. This is a large-scale event sponsored and co-hosted by the Cabinet Office, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and several major pharmaceutical companies.

NIKKEI Drug Discovery Ecosystem Summit

In Palo Alto, we have been selected as a member of the Japan Innovation Campus, operated by METI, JETRO Startup, and Mori Building. We will utilize this site as a base for our US business expansion.

Japan Innovation Campus

Granted Patent for “Heart-on-a-Chip Microdevice”
We are excited to announce that we have been granted a Japanese patent for our "Heart-on-a-Chip Microdevice” (HMD), developed in collaboration with Dr. Hidetoshi Masumoto, Research Leader at The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (currently a Professor in the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at the Faculty of Medicine of Kyoto University). This innovative device uses human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes to enable sensitive and quantitative measurements of cardiac functions and incorporates our fiber frame technology to support cardiac muscle. The granted patent highlights the potential of HMD as a valuable tool for analyzing cardiac function and evaluating the efficacy and safety of drugs. We will continue our collaborative research to further improve the accuracy and stability of this groundbreaking technology.

Patent Decision on “Neural Cell Culture Device”
We are pleased to announce that we have been granted patent rights in Japan for our neural cell culture device with oriented fiber sheet (The patent has already been granted in the United States). This innovative device consists of an oriented fiber sheet and a frame that holds it in place. Compared to traditional two-dimensional cultures, our device enables neurons to form a three-dimensional functional network at early stages. Additionally, it allows for long-term, stable cultivation with reduced cell aggregation and detachment. This technology has already been recognized as a valuable tool for analyzing neural function and evaluating the efficacy and safety of drugs, as reported in a recent study.

BIOMATERIALS RESEARCH・20 Dec 2022・Vol 26, Issue 1

At the 24th Congress of the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine (March 20-22), we will present our research development of the highly efficient manufacturing method of clinical-grade Schwann cells from pluripotent stem cells (ES/iPS cell lines) and their regenerative effectiveness for treatment of the nerve damage (March 20, Abstract No. O-11-2).
In addition, our collaborative research partner, Department of Orthopedics, Kyoto University Hospital, will also give presentation on the effectiveness in nerve regeneration and functional recovery by transplantation of our Schwann cells in a rat peripheral nerve injury model (March 20, Abstract No. O-11-5).
These research results show the clinical applicability of our Schwann cells as a therapeutic approach for various types of nerve injuries that are difficult to treat.

The 24th Congress of the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine

The Nikkei Biotech reported “Stem Cell & Device Laboratory (SCAD) Develops ES Cell-Derived Schwann Cells for Regenerative Medicine to Repair Nerves".

In this article, it is introduced that Schwann cells are being developed as a regenerative medicine product to treat damaged nerves. It also mentioned that injured nerves were restored and motor functions improved in animal experiments, and that SCAD plans to start physician-led clinical trials at Kyoto University in 2026 or later.
The report included that plans for spinal cord injury follow the first indication of carpal tunnel syndrome, and that SCAD is targeting the expansion of indications to traumatic nerve injury and entrapment neuropathy other than carpal tunnel syndrome.

SCAD has been selected for the BioTech / MedTech course of the Global Startup Acceleration Program (GSAP), a program by JETRO in cooperation with the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to support startups' overseas business development. With the support of Baker Labs an incubator at UC Berkeley, qb3 and Ensanté, we will prepare for business development in the US.

Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO)

At the 35th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Peripheral Nerve Society Research to be held on September 6-7, we will make a presentation on “Production of Schwann cells that can be expected to promote nerve regeneration using human pluripotent stem cells”. In addition, a collaborative research partner, the Department of Orthopedics, Kyoto University Hospital, will make a presentation on the effects of transplantation of the SCAD’s Schwann cells on nerve regeneration in a rat peripheral nerve injury model. These research results will be the basic functionality and effectiveness for the development of treatments for various types of nerve damage using SCAD’s Schwann cells.

The 35th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Peripheral Nerve Society Research

RIKEN BDR researcher Dr. Kozue Murata, collaborating with SCAD, presented her research at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2024 held in London, August 30 - September 2, 2024.
Through the collaborative research with us, SCAD's aligned fiber devices have been applied to Heart-on-Chip Micro device (HMD) that evaluate the drug response of iPS cell-derived cardiac micro tissue. This has led to the development of the SCAD-HMD, which has improved throughput and stability and is capable of longer-term cardiotoxicity evaluation.

ESC Congress 2024 - European Society of Cardiology

A research article on our new method of inducing differentiation of iPS cells into Schwann cells has been published in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications (BBRC).

This induction method can reliably produce a large number of Schwann cells that highly express the mature Schwann cell marker (MBP), and we have confirmed that these mature Schwann cells produce nerve growth factor (NGF) and other factors that promote neurite outgrowth and regeneration.
This technology will be applied to drug discovery research for peripheral neuropathies and Schwann cell therapy for damaged nerves. A patent of this induction method has been filed.

We are pleased to announce that we were selected as a grant recipient for the " Go-Tech Program 2024 (Growth-oriented R&D Support Program for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises)" by METI (the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry). The grant will support our R&D for the world's first regenerative medicine / cell therapy for damaged nerves using pluripotent stem cell-derived Schwann cells. The grant is for approximately 100 million yen, SCAD will be the main organization to manage and execute the project for the manufacturing Schwann cells for clinical therapeutics, in collaboration with Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine and Kyoto University Hospital. SCAD will also receive advice from the Institute for Life and Medical Sciences of Kyoto University, the Department of Neurology of Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, and the Department of Neurosurgery of Mitsui Memorial Hospital.

METI Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry

At Bio International Convention 2024 held June 3-6 in San Diego, Kensuke Kato, CEO of SCAD participated in the Japan Innovation Luncheon (a pitch/exhibition event for US investors and life science businesses) as a spin-out event organized by the Japan government / JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization). SCAD was selected by the Japanese government/JETRO as one of the 13 leading bio-tech startups to participate in this event, which included a pre-acceleration program.

METI Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry

Consulate-General of Japan in Los Angeles

"SCAD and Kyoto University have started a joint research project to realize cell therapy and regenerative medicine using Schwann cells."
SCAD and Kyoto University have entered into a joint research agreement as of August 1, 2023 with Associate Professor Ryosuke Ikeguchi of Kyoto University Hospital and Professor Tomoki Aoyama of Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine for the development of a new cellular medicine using Schwann cells produced by SCAD. We are aiming at new cell therapy and regenerative medicine for nerve damage such as peripheral nerve injury, by using the Schwann cells which have been used for drug discovery assays in SCAD.
Schwann cells, the major glial cells of the nervous system, are considered to be deeply involved in the regeneration and repair of neurons and axons. However, to date, it has been difficult to produce them stably from human pluripotent stem cells or other sources, and so far, little progress has been realized in their practical application as cellular medicines. We have improved and optimized the differentiation induction method for Schwann cells and have succeeded in efficient and stable production of Schwann cells from human pluripotent stem cell lines.
In the joint research with Kyoto University, we will start pre-clinical experiments using animal disease models to examine the possibility of clinical application of Schwann cells produced by SCAD by testing their effectiveness in neural repair and other aspects. When promising results are obtained in the animal experiments, we will plan to start clinical research for the world's first cell therapy and regenerative medicine by using Schwann cells.

SCAD has succeeded in efficiently generating Schwann cells from iPS cells, which are deeply related to the regeneration and repair of the peripheral nervous system. Information on this Schwann cell service has been updated.

We relocated our lab to Kyoto University Med-Pharm Collaboration BLDG. (Innovation Hub Kyoto).

An interview with our CEO was published in "Philo-", an industry-university collaboration information platform of Kyoto University.
"iPS Cell Based Drug Discovery" to search for effective drugs for intractable diseases for which there is no cure.

An interview with our CEO was published on the website of Kyoto University Innovation Capital Co. Ltd.
Series EMBARK "Embarkation "Story #13 "iPS Cell Based Drug Discovery" to search for effective drugs for intractable diseases for which there is no cure.

RIKEN BDR (Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research) has signed a joint research agreement with SCAD.

The Masumoto Laboratory ( Research Leader: Hidetoshi Masumoto, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Researcher) at the RIKEN BDR ( Kobe, Hyogo, Japan) is developing technology to evaluate cardiac function by applying cardiomyocyte tissue generated from iPS cells and microdevice technology. SCAD has provided some of the evaluation devices to Masumoto Laboratory. SCAD will collaborate with them to commercialize technology to evaluate the toxicity/safety and responses of the myocardial function to drugs. In addition, by using patient-derived disease-specific iPS cells, we will develop rare disease models, and as a next step, we will also study the discovery of therapeutic drugs that can improve the conditions recapitulated in these models.

Mr. Tetsuya Matsuura, Executive Vice President and other executives of SME SUPPORT JAPAN (the Organization for Small & Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation, Japan) visited SCAD to inspect our activities to support drug discovery research based on iPS cells related technologies.
In addition to Mr. Matsuura, Mr. Yasuaki Nakajima, Director General of Kansai Head Office, and Mr. Kazuhisa Matsuo, Director General of Startup and Venture Business Support Division, visited SCAD and inspected the status of our development of disease model cells based on iPS cells derived from patient blood and the discovery of therapeutic drugs by using these cells.
SCAD has been developing these technologies with the support of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and a grant from KYOTO Industrial Support Organization 21 (Kyoto Prefecture). Although it is still under development, they understood that SCAD is proceeding to recapitulate disease conditions at the cellular level and to evaluate its drug response.

We will exhibit at "BioJapan 2021" held at Pacifico Yokohama from October 13th to 15th. The latest information of our technology is exhibited, including neurological disorder models with patient-derived iPS cell lines, evaluation systems for muscle contractile force, and live-cell imaging chamber for microscopic observation.

Our project was adopted as a "2021 Kyoto Economic Gardening Support Enhancement Project" of KYOTO Industrial Support Organization 21.

The Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) has released a video interview with our CEO.
JETRO has released a promotional video to introduce the innovation ecosystem in the life science field at the center of western Japan, Kansai region to the world. Together with Bayer in Kobe and AstraZeneca in Osaka, SCAD (Stem Cell & Device Laboratory, Inc.) in Kyoto was introduced in the promotional video.
Kensuke Kato, PhD, CEO of SCAD, is interviewed and explains an overview of the company's activities, development of iPS cell-based disease model cells for rare diseases, and drug discovery using these cells.

JETRO Global Channel, “Life Science at KYOTO, OSAKA, KOBE”

We will exhibit at "BioJapan 2020" held at Pacifico Yokohama from October 14th to 16th.

A co-authored paper on research using our neuronal devices has been published in Nature Communications.

The paper is about a study by Japanese researchers including Associate Professor Ikuo Suzuki of Tohoku Institute of Technology, our technical advisor, and ETH Zurich. It stated that by culturing iPS-derived neurons in three dimensions on oriented fibers using our cell device, the functionality is enhanced compared to two-dimensional culture, and that it is extremely effective in functional analysis of nerve cell populations.

Nature Communications 11, Article number:4854 (2020)

Prof. Norio Nakatsuji, Chief Advisor, received "Future Creation Invention Award".

Our project was adopted as a "2020 Corporate Forest / Industry-Academia Forest Promotion Project" of KYOTO Industrial Support Organization 21.

We are selected as a bio-venture to be supported by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in "2020 Regional Enterprise Innovation Support Project".

We will give a poster presentation on "Development of a new drug efficacy evaluation method for center and peripheral neural networks using oriented nanofiber devices" in collaboration with Associate Professor Ikuo Suzuki of Tohoku Institute of Technology, our joint research partner, at the 93rd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Pharmacological Society (Pacifico Yokohama, March 16-18, 2020)

Our senior researcher Kinoshita will give a general presentation on the theme of he "Application of oriented fiber scaffold in micro electrode array (MEA) assay using human iPS cell-derived neurons" at the 11th Annual Meeting of the Japan Safety Pharmacology Study Group (2020/2 / 28-29).

Our efforts for rare diseases were covered and broadcasted as news in "NHK / Kansai NEWS WEB (broadcast on January 3, 2020)".

An article about our efforts for rare diseases was published in "Nihon Keizai Shimbun Electronic Edition / Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun (December 23, 2019)".

An article about our efforts for rare diseases was published in "Nikkei Biotech ONLINE (December 16, 2019)".

We have entered into a joint research agreement with Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine regarding the development of a disease model aimed at developing a treatment for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, which is one of the intractable hereditary neurological diseases.

Our projecty was adopted as a "2019 Next Generation Regional Industry Promotion Project" of KYOTO Industrial Support Organization 21.

We will exhibit at "BioJapan 2019" held at Pacifico Yokohama from October 9th to 11th.

At the 46th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Toxicology, we will give a poster presentation on neuronal devices in collaboration with Associate Professor Ikuo Suzuki of Tohoku Institute of Technology, our joint research partner.

Our efforts for cell production of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease model were introduced in the oral presentation "Latest topics in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease" made by Professor Masanori Nakagawa, Vice President of Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, at the 60th Annual Meeting of the Japan Neurological Society.

We were selected as a "Companies Driving Regional Growth" by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Recommended by Kyoto City and Kyoto Prefecture, we were selected as a "Companies Driving Regional Growth" as a regional core company that will drive the regional economy.

At the 10th Annual Meeting of the Japan Society for Safety and Pharmacology, we will give a poster presentation on neuronal devices in collaboration with Associate Professor Ikuo Suzuki of Tohoku Institute of Technology, our joint research partner.

We will exhibit at the 5th Regenerative Medicine Industrialization Exhibition (Osaka).

We were certified as a blood-derived specific research tool manufacturing business in the National Strategic Special Zone by the Prime Minister of Japan.

Prof. Norio Nakatsuji, Chief Advisor, will give an opening lecture at an international conference.Our Chief Advisor, Norio Nakatsuji, Professor Emeritus of Kyoto University, will give an opening lecture at Cell Therapy Asia 2018 to be held in Kobe on December 6-7, 2018. Prof. Nakatsuji co-chairs the Organizing Committee of the Conference.

Prof. Norio Nakatsuji, Chief Advisor, will give a keynote speech at an international conference.Our Chief Advisor, Norio Nakatsuji, Professor Emeritus of Kyoto University, will give a keynote speech at SelectBio Stem Cells in Drug Discovery & Toxicity Screening 2018 (San Diego, California) in October 2018.

We will give a poster presentation on our cardiomyocyte device "SCAD-MT ™ cardiomyocyte" at the Safety Pharmacology Society (SPS) Annual Meeting 2018.

We will exhibit at the 5th International Society for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine 2018-Kyoto (5th TERMIS World Congress).

A neural device using our nanofiber scaffolding technology was introduced at the luncheon seminar of the Japanese Society of Toxicology.

Notice of joint research with RIKEN

Prof. Norio Nakatsuji, Chief Advisor, received 2018 Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Action Award in the United States.

Our Chief Advisor, Prof. Norio Nakatsuji, has been selected as a recipient of the 2018 Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Action Award from the Regenerative Medicine Foundation. Prof. Nakatsuji will be awarded the International Leadership Award for his outstanding and numerous contributions not only as a university person but also as an entrepreneur and philanthropist in fields of stem cells and regenerative medicine. The award ceremony will be held at the 13th World Stem Cell Summit (WSCS) evening reception held in Miami, Florida, USA in January 2018.

Our research paper was published in Stem Cell Reports.

A paper on myocardial tissue using nanofibers for drug evaluation and transplantation by Prof. Norio Nakatsuji, Chief Advisor, Professor Emeritus of Kyoto University was published in Stem Cell Reports.

We implemented a series B third-party allotment.

Our project was adopted as a "2017 Industry-Academia Collaboration Promotion Project" of KYOTO Industrial Support Organization 21.

Our project was adopted as a "2017 Kyoto Economic Gardening Support Enhancement Project" of KYOTO Industrial Support Organization 21.

World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2017 （2017/5/17-19 London）
Prof. Norio Nakatsuji, Chief Advisor, will give a keynote speech.

We were certified as A rank by the Kyoto City Venture Business Connoisseurs Committee.

The 8th Japan Safety Pharmacology Association (JSPS) Academic year （2017/2/10-11 The University of Tokyo）

We will give a poster presentation.

"SCAD-MT cardiomyocyte: human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocyte micro-tissues that show maturation and functional stability promoted by using aligned nanofibers"

World Stem Cell Summit 2016 （2016/12/6-9 West Palm Beach, Florida）

Prof. Norio Nakatsuji, Chief Advisor, will give the opening remarks.

Prof. Nakatsuji will host the 5th Japan Summit.

Margaret Anne Craig, CCO, will introduce our technology at the 5th Japan Summit.

"3D micro tissue models of cardiac stem cells utilizing nanofiber technology exhibit more maturity and stability for acute and chronic drug discovery functional and structural assays"

Cell & Gene Meeting on the Mesa 2016 （2016/10/5-7 San Diefo, California）

Prof. Norio Nakatsuji, Chief Advisor, will introduce our technology.

"SCAD-MT cardiomyocyte: Human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocyte micro-tissues that show promoted maturation and functional stability promoted by using aligned nanofibers"

Safety Pharmacology Society 2016 （2016/9/18-21 Vancouver）

We will give a poster presentation.

"SCAD-MT cardiomyocyte: human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocyte micro-tissues that show promoted maturation and functional stability promoted by using aligned nanofibers"

We implemented a series A third-party allotment.

Investment Seminar on Life Sciences  (Promoters : SCOTTISH Development International / KANAGAWA Pref.)
Prof. Norio Nakatsuji, Chief Advisor, will give a lecture.

Stem Cell in Drug Discovery 2016
Prof. Norio Nakatsuji, Chief Advisor, will give a keynote speech.

CiRA/ISSCR International Symposia 2016
Dr. Liu Li, Technical Advisor, will give a poster presentation.

The 15th Congress of the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine
Dr. Liu Li, Technical Advisor, will give an oral presentation.