Kyoto University Innovation Capital Co. iCAPInnovation Kyoto 2021 Investment Limited Partnership" (hereinafter referred to as "KYOTO-iCAP No.2 Fund"), whose general partner is KYOTO-iCAP No.2 Fund (Head office: Sakyo-ku, Kyoto City, Representative Director: Kimi Kusumi), has made an additional investment in Link Therapeutics Co. (headquartered in Sakyo-ku, Kyoto; Yoshiko Abe, Representative Director) through a third-party allotment of new shares.

Outline of this investment
Link Tx is a biotech company established in October 2022 with the support of Kyoto iCAP, based on the research results of Assistant Professor Masahiro Shiokawa (Department of Gastroenterology) and his colleagues at Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine. Link Tx was established to contribute to the development of medical care and the health of patients by conducting research and development to elucidate the pathogenesis of diseases caused by autoantibodies and to create therapeutic methods targeting autoantibodies. Dr. Shiokawa and his colleagues have previously demonstrated that ulcerative colitis patients with integrin αVbeta6 Autoantibodies (anti-integrin alphaVbeta6(Kuwada et al. 2021). This anti-integrin αVbeta6 antibody is a novel antibody that is designed to detect the integrin αVbeta6and fibronectin expressed on the basement membrane of connective tissues, and it was thought that it might inhibit the binding of fibronectin, which is expressed on the basement membrane of connective tissues, and damage the colon epithelium to form ulcers. Currently, Kyoto University is developing an anti-integrin αVbeta6We believe that antibodies are the causative autoantibodies of ulcerative colitis and are conducting further research.

Link Tx is now working with Kyoto University on an anti-integrin alphaVbeta6The purpose of the agreement is to create new therapeutic methods targeting autoantibodies, including antibodies, and Kyoto University has granted a license to the patent rights held by Kyoto University. Kyoto iCAP has invested an additional 150 million yen in Link Tx in the hope that its research and development policy targeting autoantibodies will lead to the elucidation of unknown pathologies and the creation of new treatment methods. In addition to Kyoto iCAP, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital Corporation and SMBC Venture Capital Co.

References: Takeshi Kuwada, Masahiro Shiokawa, Yuzo Kodama, Norimitsu Uza, Tsutomu Chiba. Hiroshi Seno, Identification of an Anti-Integrin αv β6 Autoantibody in Patients With Ulcerative Colitis, VOLUME 160, ISSUE 7, P2383-2394.E21, JUNE 01, 2021

About 0Link Therapeutics, Inc.

Establishment	October 4, 2022
Business	Creation of medical tools targeting autoantibodies, and search for autoantibody-associated diseases and their target autoantibodies
Head Office Location	36-1, Yoshida Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan
President & CEO	Yoshiko Abe