About

Message (Vision, Mission, Value)

• Mission

  Develop our proprietary technologies and cells “highly stable and functional induced-Tregs (S/F-iTregs)”, as the leader of Treg development.

• Vision

  Cure and eradicate intractable autoimmune diseases, inflammatory diseases, and transplant rejection with safe & outstandingly effective therapies.

• Value

  We are committed to achieving our goals of 1) enabling antigen-specific immunosuppression, 2) reducing the requirement for frequent or prolonged dosing, 3) delivering radical treatment of immune diseases.

Founder’s story

• Dr. Shimon Sakaguchi
  Technology advisor

  

  Shimon Sakaguchi, the discoverer of regulatory T (Treg) cells, has been studying Treg cells for more than forty years, mainly basic biology on how they develop in the immune system and suppress unwanted immune responses such as autoimmune disease and allergy. He believes that our basic knowledge about the development and function of Treg cells has now accumulated sufficiently to allow us to make Treg-based immunotherapy a reality in the clinic. For this reason, he has started RegCell, which aims to develop a novel Treg cell therapy to treat autoimmune diseases (for example, type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis), that afflict approximately 10% of the population worldwide. T cells mediate tissue damage in many autoimmune diseases, and natural Treg cells are able to inhibit the development of autoimmune disease and suppress disease progression. Through efforts to make Treg cells more effective in controlling autoimmune diseases, Sakaguchi and RegCell have taken the unique approach of converting disease-mediating T cells in patients with autoimmune disease into Treg cells with potent disease-specific immune suppressive activity, and then transferring the converted Treg cells back to the patients to control and cure the disease. Sakaguchi hopes to refine this new therapy for autoimmune disease and establish it as an effective treatment of chronic autoimmune diseases as well as other immunological maladies.

Leadership

• Yasuhiko Handa
  Director, President & CEO

  

  The immune system protects our bodies from viruses and other foreign substances, and it functions through many cells fulfilling their respective roles. However, this system does not eliminate all that is non-self, but operates in a manner that is beneficial to the existence of the organism. The mechanism that identifies foreign substances to be eliminated and attacks them to protect the self is very complex. The immune system is a dense, integrated network of many cells that are interrelated, yet not fragile, and it has the diversity to deal with a variety of foreign substances. The more one learns about it, the more one has to wonder who in the world designed this system.

  Regulatory T (Treg) cells are the cells that control this system. They are the very cells that regulate immunity, optimizing immune function by suppressing the immune response that protects the body. The aim of RegCell is to develop a new concept of treatment that cures diseases by restoring the body’s natural immune power through Treg. Because of this concept, our treatment approach has the potential to be applied to a wide range of immune-related diseases. We strive to continue our research and development in the hope that by realizing this concept, we can not only cure diseases, but also restore the possibility of a future for those who are suffering from these diseases.

  We feel awe at the immune system, which is far beyond human knowledge. With its help, we aspire to create a tomorrow that is full of hope. We will continue to humbly head toward a better world in the future.

BoD

SAB

• Technology advisor

  Dr. Shimon Sakaguchi is a Distinguished Professor of Osaka University and a member of the National Academy of Sciences USA. Dr. Sakaguchi is renowned for his discovery of regulatory T cells (Tregs) and as the world’s authority on Treg biology and function. He was awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon from the Emperor in 2009, designated as Person of Cultural Merit by the Japanese Government in 2017, and has been awarded many international prizes including Cancer Research Institute’s William B. Coley Award, Keio Medical Science Prize, Canada Gairdner International Award, Swedish Crafoord Prize, Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize, and Robert Koch Award. He received the Order of Culture, the highest accolade for Japanese scholars, in 2019 from the Emperor of Japan.