Thyas is developing cancer immunotherapies by generating immune cells, such as killer T cells, from iPS cells.

This project is based on the research of Professor Shin Kaneko at CiRA. Six years ago, I came to Kyoto and met Professor Kaneko and Thyas while working as a venture capitalist.

And it was just around that time when immune checkpoint inhibitors were launched, and people started to say that cancers would become curable diseases with such cancer immunotherapies.

I was fascinated by Professor Kaneko's research, which demonstrated that killer T cells, which play a key role in anti-tumor immunity, can be rejuvenated from iPS cells and infinitely produced.

I invested in Thyas with the hope of putting this technology out into the world.

And it was just a year ago that I joined its management myself.

I also remember six years ago, when a friend of mine was diagnosed with cancer. I gave him a PowerPoint presentation explaining about a potential cancer immunotherapy to be made by the startup using iPS cells.

Running a startup is hard, requiring diligent work every day. But compared with the battle of cancer patients, they are nothing. That’s where my motivation comes from, and I always try to remember this when facing hard things.

We want to spread iPS cell-derived immune cell therapies born in Japan and Kyoto to the world.

And our team want to save many people. More than that, we want to save the people who are important to each of you. With this in mind, Thyas is working hard.