DNP, NEXEL and CMIC Pharma Science Establish Joint Venture “TriNebula Cell Tech”

Tokyo, October 9, 2026 — Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (DNP) has established TriNebula Cell Tech Co., Ltd. (TriNebula) as a joint venture with NEXEL Co., Ltd. and CMIC Pharma Science Co., Ltd.

The new joint venture, TriNebula, will focus on the global marketing and commercialization of products derived from human induced pluripotent stem(iPS) cells, including cardiomyocytes, amid growing demand for human-relevant models and New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) in drug discovery and safety assessment.

Under a licensing agreement with NEXEL, DNP will manufacture cardiomyocytes and aims to establish a global manufacturing and sales structure based on market and customer needs identified through TriNebula’s marketing activities.

NEXEL is headquartered in Seoul, Republic of Korea, and develops and manufactures cell products derived from iPS cells. CMIC Pharma Science is headquartered in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, and provides services including non-clinical testing.

In recent years, advances in regulations and guidelines worldwide have increased demand for human-relevant models and NAMs that can improve the prediction of human responses in drug discovery and safety assessment. This shift is also supported by growing efforts to reduce reliance on animal testing.

In response to these needs, cardiomyocytes and other cells derived from human iPS cells are expected to play an increasingly important role in evaluating the efficacy and safety of drug candidates. The three partners established TriNebula to support the expansion and commercialization of human-relevant evaluation technologies and meet growing demand for iPS cell-derived products.

• Identify market and customer challenges related to cardiomyocyte products derived from human iPS cells while disseminating information and promoting sales.
• Propose products to pharmaceutical companies, chemical and cosmetics manufacturers, Contract Research Organizations (CROs), universities, research institutions, and other organizations.
• Provide the three partners with feedback on evaluations and needs gathered from pharmaceutical companies and research institutions to which products have been proposed.
• Plan new products and services combining the technologies, manufacturing capabilities, and evaluation capabilities of the three partners.
• Monitor global regulatory developments related to the acceptance and use of NAMs, including human-relevant cell-based models.

Through the marketing of iPS cell-related products, including cardiomyocytes, TriNebula will work to expand their use in drug discovery research and the safety evaluation of drug candidates.

In addition, by combining DNP’s manufacturing and quality-control capabilities, NEXEL’s research and development capabilities, and CMIC Pharma Science’s expertise in contract testing, the three partners will explore the commercialization of new products and services that contribute to more advanced and efficient safety evaluation in drug discovery and development.

DNP is focusing on developing new businesses in the medical and healthcare fields by leveraging proprietary strengths in Printing & Information (P&I) cultivated over many years. In the drug discovery support field, in 2017, through joint research with the National Center for Child Health and Development, DNP became the first in the world to successfully generate functional three-dimensional intestinal organoids (“mini-guts”)^*1 in vitro from human embryonic stem (ES) cells. Mini-guts can also be generated from human iPS cells and exhibit human intestinal functions, including peristalsis-like movement and absorption and secretion capabilities. DNP is also developing microphysiological systems (MPS)^*2 as human-relevant evaluation models for drug discovery research and non-clinical studies.

*1 About the “mini-gut”: https://www.global.dnp/en/our-goals/media/2025/1218/

*2 Microphysiological system (MPS): An evaluation system that uses human-derived cells and other materials to replicate certain functions of biological tissues and organs within a small-scale culture environment. MPSs are expected to be used to evaluate the efficacy and safety of drug candidates.