ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter "ITOCHU") announced today that, on April 24, 2025, it entered into a basic agreement with the CiRA Foundation to support the development and licensing of the "my iPS Kit," a closed-system automated culture kit for which the CiRA Foundation plans to obtain a patent.

The CiRA Foundation is promoting two major projects under its mission of providing optimal iPS cell technologies to institutions and companies in Japan and abroad at fair and reasonable prices.
The iPS Cell Stock Project manufactures iPS cells from somatic cells donated by healthy volunteers at the Facility for iPS Cell Therapy (FiT). These iPS cells undergo rigorous quality control, and only those that meet clinical-use standards are cryopreserved and supplied as raw materials for transplant cells and other applications. Compared with the autologous generation of iPS cells for individual patients, the iPS Cell Stock Project significantly reduces time and cost, making it possible to rapidly supply iPS cells. These cells have already been utilized in clinical trials run by at least 10 facilities around the world, including in the United States.
The second initiative, the my iPS Project, is a joint research effort with various companies to automate the production of iPS cells, which have conventionally been produced manually, through the development of a closed-system automated culture kit called the my iPS Kit. This automated method ensures that the cells never come into contact with the external environment during cultivation, and it is aiming to drastically reduce costs.

Leveraging the expertise cultivated in its chemicals business, ITOCHU has been supporting the CiRA Foundation in the development of materials to advance the my iPS Project with greater safety and efficiency. With development of the my iPS Kit reaching a milestone and anticipating its domestic and global rollout, the parties have agreed to continue their collaboration, including the selection of optimal raw materials and the development of sterilization technologies. Through this initiative, ITOCHU will continue to work under its corporate mission, Sampo-yoshi (good for the seller, good for the buyer and good for society), toward the realization of a society where people can live healthier lives.