OZTx, with the aim of social implementation of cell therapy products and innovative iPS cell-related technologies (platform innovation), is conducting research and development of regenerative medicine using iPS cell-derived cardiomyocytes and islet cells and supports commercialization of development candidate seeds through collaboration with commercial partnerships and academic institutions.

PeptiGrowth is developing "synthetic peptide growth factors" that have the same functions as commercially available growth factors and cytokines by utilizing their proprietary peptide discovery technology: Peptide Discovery Platform System (PDPS). PeptiGrowth aims to contribute to expansion of the regenerative medicine and cell therapy industry by developing "synthetic peptide growth factors", thereby solving the problems of standards for biologically derived raw materials, quality uniformity, material stability, and high cost, currently faced by the industry.

Under this agreement, PeptiGrowth will develop and supply multiple candidate peptides created by PDPS to OZTx. OZTx will use the provided candidate peptides as part of their in-house evaluation assay system to specify a few candidates that are promising as the growth factor alternative peptide. These candidate peptides will be optimized in terms of bioactivity, chemical stability, solubility, etc., to create novel chemically synthesized peptides that have the equivalent functions as conventional recombinant growth factors in cell proliferation and differentiation induction.

The use of the synthetic peptide created under this agreement is expected to eliminate concerns about quality variations between production lots and reduce manufacturing cost, which have been a problem inherent in conventional recombinant growth factors, thereby enabling improved productivity and economic efficiency at OZTx.

Kenji Nonaka, President at Orizuru Therapeutics, Inc.

"We are very pleased with this collaboration with PeptiGrowth, which aims to promote the spread of regenerative medicine through innovative technologies and ideas. We recognize that quality variation and high manufacturing costs are two of the challenges that must be overcome in the development of regenerative medicine products, but we expect that this collaboration will enable us to make significant progress toward practical application and that the results will also benefit the regenerative medicine industry at large."

Jiro Sugimoto, President at PeptiGrowth Inc.

"It is a great honor for us to develop the novel growth factor alternative peptide in collaboration with Orizuru Therapeutics, a company that has attracted the attention of the regenerative medicine industry in the field of iPS cells. We hope that this collaboration of technologies originated from Japan will create innovative peptide that will be widely used in the global market and make a significant contribution to the industry."