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: Kimi Kusumi) as unlimited liability partner, has made an additional investment in Regeneflo Corporation ("Regeneflo"), a venture company utilizing Kyoto University's research results. (Head office: Sakyo-ku, Kyoto; Representative Director: Toshihiro Ishikiriyama), a venture company that utilizes research results from Kyoto University.

Outline of ○Investment
Regeneflo is a venture company established in September 2019 based on the research results of Professor Kenji Osafune of the Division of Mechanisms of Proliferation and Differentiation at the Center for iPS Cell Research (CiRA), Kyoto University. Starting with the world's first discovery of the existence of nephron progenitor cells, a type of embryonic renal progenitor cells, Professor Nagafune has succeeded in establishing a technology for highly efficient generation of nephron progenitor cells from iPS cells.

The number of patients suffering from chronic kidney disease (CKD) has been increasing steadily with the aging of society, and the number of CKD patients has reached 13% of the adult population in Japan, or approximately 13 million people. The number of dialysis patients is increasing year by year, and the annual medical cost for dialysis exceeds 1.5 trillion yen.

The iPS cell-derived nephron progenitor cells invented by Professor Nagafune have shown efficacy in improving renal disorders in animal experiments. REGENEFLO will work on the practical application of cellular medicine using iPS cell-derived nephron progenitor cells as an active ingredient, aiming to obtain approval for the indication of CKD.

Kyoto iCAP highly evaluated the potential of RegenerativeFlo, which is challenging to develop new therapeutic technologies for intractable diseases in the renal field using iPS cells generated from Kyoto University, and decided to underwrite 250 million yen of the total 1,392 million yen to be raised through a third-party allocation of new shares.

In addition to Kyoto iCAP, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital Corporation, JAFCO Group, M3 Corporation, Asahi Kasei Corporation, SMBC Venture Capital Corporation, Healthcare Innovation Corporation, Shimadzu Corporation, Kyogin Leasing Capital Co. DM Capital Ltd. and Yam Overseas Co.

REGENEFLO will use the funds raised this time to manufacture a non-clinical formulation and conduct safety studies using it for the practical application of cell therapy using iPS cell-derived renal progenitor cells. Clinical trials are planned to start in 2023.

Overview of Regeneflo Corporation

Establishment	September 2019
Business	Research and development, production and sales of cell therapy derived from iPS Cell for renal diseases
Head Office Location	Sakyo-ku, Kyoto
President & CEO	Toshihiro Ishikiriyama