ITOCHU Announces Investment in Regenerative Medicine Company Promethera

December 27, 2018

ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Yoshihisa Suzuki, President & COO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it has acquired equity shares through third-party allotment by Promethera Biosciences SA (headquartered in Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium; John Tchelingerian, CEO; hereinafter “Promethera SA”).

Promethera SA develops cell-based products for regenerative medicine (allogeneic/cell-based medicine) derived from the liver of healthy donors. These products are undergoing clinical trials to evaluate their safety and initial　efficacy as therapeutic agents to treat Urea Cycle Disorder (UCD), Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure (ACLF), Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH), and so on. Promethera SA is steadily progressing with its plan in regenerative medicine to make the world's first liver disease therapy a reality.

ITOCHU has positioned the pharmaceutical and health care markets as a priority area and is planning to expand this business not only in Japan but in China and other parts of Asia. Through the investment in Promethera SA, ITOCHU will support the expansion of Promethera SA’s business in regenerative medicine. In addition, ITOCHU will continue to address unmet medical needs (strong demands from patients and physicians for new medicine or treatment against a disease for which there is no effective treatment option) and will also develop businesses using its alliance partners and overseas networks.
ITOCHU will introduce the businesses in regenerative medicine and new drug development to the world by effectively harnessing the expertise it has developed in pharmaceutical-related businesses.

Overview of Promethera SA

Company name Promethera Biosciences SA
CEO John Tchelingerian
Headquarters Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium
Established February 2009
Business area Development of allogeneic/cell-based medicine using regenerative medical technologies for liver diseases
Company Website https://www.promethera.com/