Osaka University, Terumo and DNP Establish Joint Research Department of Cardiac Regeneration and Therapeutics

Osaka University, Terumo Corporation (Terumo) and Dai Nippon Printing Co.,Ltd. (DNP) are pleased to announce the establishment of a regenerative medicine-relatedjoint research department.

The department aims to develop regenerative medicine-driven cardio therapiesby conducting research on low cost, effective manufacture and quality controltechniques for regenerative medicine-linked products.

The manufacture of regenerative medicine products faces neumerous challengesincluding multiple manual tasks that drive up manufacturing costs, complex andinefficient operations, and difficulty in ensuring uniform cell quality. Thepartners will combine their respective knowledge and existing technology relatedto regenerative medicine, and by 2019 aim to develop equipment, such as robottechnology assisted devices for cell culture operations, and establish non-destructiveand efficient cell quality testing methods.

[Joint Research Department]

[Regenerative Medicine Initiatives by the Partners]

Osaka University has been at the center of the world's first regenerativemedicine techniques against heart failure and severe corneal disease. In addition,the university is promoting innovative initiatives designed to realize and disseminateregenerative medicine using numerous technologies including iPS cells.  

Terumo manufactures and markets HeartSheet®, the world's first heartfailure treatment regenerative medicine product. HeartSheet® is expectedto become a standard treatment option for ischemic heart disease-based severeheart failure and replace current drug treatments and surgery, which have producedinsufficient results. As a leading company in the area of regenerative medicine,Terumo is engaged in an ongoing commercialization of regenerative medicine products,the manufacturing of cell products and efforts to improve quality control technology.

DNP utilizes information technology, such as color management and three-dimensionalimage processing technology, and is developing non-destructive cell testingmethods based on cell image analysis. The company also manufactures thermo-responsivecell culture equipment for the production of cell sheets and is engaged in improvingquality and performance stability.

Cell sheet developed by Osaka University and Terumo thatutilizes DNP technology in the manufacturing process

[Joint Research Departments by Strategic Global Partnership & Cross-InnovationInitiative]

The joint research departments at Osaka University comprise a research organizationinstalled at the university based on funding and researchers from external organizations,including private sector companies. Research will be conducted on common issuesby Osaka University teaching staff and corporate researchers with equal status.The joint research departments organization is a new style format, whereby multipleprivate sector companies collaborate with Osaka University to conduct researchin order, to promote open or cross innovation based on industry-academia collaboration.

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