My History
OrganTech’s founder, Takashi Tsuji, was also my mentor when I was in university. Through his many years of research, Tsuji has aimed to build a new industry called “QOL medicine” in Japan by utilizing organ regeneration to improve people's quality of life and health. This was how OrganTech came about. A common perception of “regenerative medicine” might be that only a limited number of people can benefit from it, but our starting point is medical care that everyone in the world can enjoy. This is why we focused on organs that are familiar to everyone, such as hair and teeth.
The processes by which teeth, hair, and organs are made are generally shared, all consisting of two types of cells: epithelial cells and mesenchymal cells. We have been conducting research to elucidate these mechanisms and create “organ seeds.” This research is a world-first and where OrganTech began as well as the sum of our technology. Our current main business, dental regenerative medicine, involves regenerating artificial periodontal ligaments with implants as a way to realize “your own teeth that don’t get cavities.” Normally, natural teeth move little by little to balance occlusions, but implants require screws in the jawbone so that they won’t move even when orthodontic force is applied. However, the use of artificial periodontal ligaments makes it possible to regenerate teeth that are better than conventional implants, connecting the jawbone and teeth with fibers, reproducing a condition closer to natural teeth while also preventing tooth decay. Meanwhile, in the field of hair regeneration, we have developed a method of growing skin and hair the size of a thumb nail and transplanting that unto the scalp to regenerate hair. The main approach of conventional hair regrowth methods is to excise healthy scalp from the back of the head. However, our method enables hair regeneration that causes far less damage.
The Present
Our work stands on the two pillars of “technology development and research” and “disseminating to the world.” When it comes to “disseminating to the world,” we promote partnerships with global companies and support them to disseminate our technologies and products locally. The reality is that, from a global perspective, Japanese laws on regenerative medicine are very relaxed. For this reason, we believe that it is possible to establish a first model case of QOL medical business in Japan and then expand it overseas. Yet there are many hurdles to overseas expansion, including language, culture, and legislation, which is why we let local companies handle sales. We want to be a fabless R&D-type venture that specializes in technology development and makes technologies that can contribute to the world. What we want to put at the forefront is not the name “OrganTech” but the technologies themselves that grant rich living and health to the world.
The market for regenerative medicine yet to be established in the field of pharmaceuticals, but in the field of aesthetic plastic surgery, stem cell transfer therapy and stem cell culture supernatant therapy are becoming increasingly popular as treatments not covered by health insurance. This also stems from the laxity of Japanese laws, but we cannot overlook the rampant spread of treatments based on insufficient scientific evidence, safety assurance, and quality control. We do not deny the significance of the treatments themselves in terms of improving QOL, but we hope to see safety assurance and demonstrations of efficacy to the same degree as for pharmaceuticals. This also motivates us to work on our technologies with an even greater sense of responsibility.
For the Future
We have advanced to the next research phase in hair regeneration and plan to commence clinical research on tooth regeneration at the end of the year. Looking forward, as the scale of our business increases, we want to introduce support for researchers to commercialize their research. There is a lot of wonderful research being conducted at Japanese universities, but much of it never leaves the confines of the campuses because they can’t get past the barriers to commercialization. The skills required to present research results and to raise funds are not the same. No matter how good your research is, it will be difficult to commercialize if you cannot quantitively demonstrate its prospects as a viable business. Personally, I’m keenly aware of how hard it is to industrialize research, so I would like to make use of my experiences to help other researchers.
Moreover, I plan to restructure the company so that it can be listed on the NASDAQ, while also stepping down as representative director and devoting myself to research again. We will appoint a person with extensive business experience to the position of new representative director, aiming to further accelerate commercialization. I feel a renewed sense of hope and optimism for this business that can allow original research to help people all around the world. We will keep striving to be an “R&D-oriented company” that spreads pioneering made-in-Japan technology to the world through our business alliances.