SBI Holdings, Inc.
SBI Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd.
ReproCELL Inc.

SBI Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. (Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and CEO: Yoshitaka Kitao; “SBI Pharmaceuticals”), a subsidiary of SBI Holdings, Inc. engaging in research and development of pharmaceuticals, health foods and cosmetics using 5-aminolevulinic acid (“5-ALA”)*1 and ReproCELL Inc. (Head office: Kohoku-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa; Chief Executive Director: Chikafumi Yokoyama; “ ReproCELL”), engaging in sales of ES/iPS cells-related R&D reagent, iPS-derived cells, and clinical diagnostics, announced that they made a joint research agreement for technology regarding ES/iPS cells using 5-ALA.

This joint research agreement will accelerate and promote iPS cell business of ReproCELL by improving efficiency of ES/iPS cell culture technology*2 through synergy between SBI Pharmaceuticals’ cell activation technology and ReproCELL’s ES/iPS cell technology. As SBI Pharmaceuticals is able to explore a new field of 5-ALA application, the joint research will be beneficial to both companies.

SBI Pharmaceuticals and ReproCELL will endeavor to contribute to medical development through this joint research agreement.

ReproCELL Inc.
ReproCELL is a pioneer of ES/iPS cell business which started world’s first drug discovery support business using human iPS cells in 2009. Currently, its cut-edge achievements regarding ES/iPS cells are applied to various business fields such as R&D reagents, drug discovery support service, tailor-made medicine, and clinical laboratory test. ReproCELL ‘s product was proved to be highly effective for culture of ES/iPS cells, or “multipotent cells”, and its business is expanding rapidly owing to worldwide development of ES/iPS cells researches. It is expected that ReproCELL will contribute to next-generation medicine such as regenerative medicine and tailor-made medicine.

SBI Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd.
SBI Pharmaceuticals deals its product “ALAGLIO”, the 5-ALA-based orally-administrable in situ diagnostic drug for malignant glioblastoma. It also promotes drug development and clinical researches using 5-ALA in collaboration with universities and medical institutes worldwide.

*1: 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA):
An amino acid created in mitochondria. It is an important substance that serves as protein material related to energy production in the form of heme and cytochromes, and its productivity is known to decrease with age. 5-ALA is contained in food such as shochu distillation remnants, red wine, and radish sprouts. It is also known as a material forming chloroplasts in plants.

*2: Differentiation Induction:
Re-formation of ES/iPS cells into particular functional cells such as organ-consisting cells with certain stimulations to ES/iPS cells. It is an essential technology for regenerative medicine using ES/iPS cells because the efficiency of differentiation induction is a key to ES/iPS cell usage efficiency itself. Besides, contamination of undifferentiated ES/iPS cells among differentiated cells is implicated to be a high risk of regenerative medicine.

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For further information, please contact:
SBI Holdings, Inc.: Corporate Communications Dept., Tel: +81 3 6229 0126
SBI Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd.: Corporate Planning Dept., Tel: +81 3 6229 0095
ReproCELL Inc.: Administration & Finance Dept., Tel: +81 45 475 3887

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