Innovation Kyoto 2016 Investment Limited Partnership ("KYOTO-iCAP No.1 Fund"), with Kyoto University Innovation Capital Corporation ("Kyoto iCAP") (Head office: Sakyo-ku, Kyoto; Representative Director: Koji Murota) as unlimited liability partner, has made an investment in MyOridge Inc. (Head office: Sakyo-ku, Kyoto; Representative Director: Naohiro Makita), a venture company that utilizes the results of research at Kyoto University.

Outline of this investment
MyOridge is a venture company founded by Dr. Kazunari Minami (former Assistant Professor at the iCeMS and currently Project Associate Professor at Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine) and others based on research results from the Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) of Kyoto University.

In order to manufacture cell products for medical use from stem cells (specialized cells with the ability to self-renew and differentiate into various cell types), it is essential to be able to supply the same quality cells at any time at a low cost. MyOrridge possesses a cell manufacturing system based on a proprietary group of small molecule compounds, mainly enzyme inhibitors (including five patents granted by Kyoto University). This eliminates the need to use expensive proteins, which were previously considered essential for cell production, and also enables stable and highly efficient cell production through the use of low-molecular compounds with stable quality and activity.

In the production of cardiomyocytes, we have been able to reduce the production cost to about 1/100 (compared to protein-based culture media). We have also confirmed that this production method can be applied to several cell types other than cardiomyocytes, which are expected to have medical applications, and we are also conducting research and development of culture equipment.

Kyoto iCAP expects that MyOridge, as a cell engineering company responsible for quality assurance and stable manufacturing of cellular medicines, has the potential to contribute to the practical application of cellular medicines made from stem cells, mainly iPS cells, and on December 23, 2019, RFI Advisors, Inc. (President: Hiroaki Sakamoto), an investment fund whose unlimited liability partner is the Regional Next Generation Industry Promotion Investment Limited Partnership, on December 23, 2019, for a total of 200 million yen (commitment basis), and executed an investment of 46 million yen on January 17, 2020.

Outline of MyOrridge Co.

Establishment	August 2016
Business	Chemically induced stem cell differentiation and manufacturing technology for regenerative cell therapy
Head Office Location	Sakyo-ku, Kyoto
President & CEO	Naohiro Makita