Our Founding Background
Our founder, Tasuku Okamoto, was engaged in R&D of pharmaceuticals and medical devices in the new business development department of a large company, later becoming an independent entrepreneur involved in the management of a bio-venture company for about 15 years. There, he experienced business successes and failures, including clinical studies for drug discovery and the development of luminescence-molecular imaging of intracellular signal transduction, anti-cancer peptide vaccines, and organ-on-a-chip drug discovery technology. At the same time, he has witnessed the proliferation of biopharmaceuticals and the emergence of new technologies, such as the practical application of genetic screening in cancer care and regenerative medicine.
In this context, he has also faced many medical challenges: 1) the still low chance for patients to encounter the molecularly-targeted drugs they seek in cancer genome medicine, 2) the practical application of regenerative medicine with high developmental hurdles, and 3) the fact that many patients are facing rare diseases for which there is still no known cure.
Now we have successfully developed a technology that can provide a new modality called cell therapy. We are ready to embark once again on the quest for personalized medicine that will allow patients to choose the treatment that best suits their individual needs.
Company Profile
| Company Name | Opticell, Inc. |
| Establishment | June 23, 2023 |
| Company President | Tasuku Okamoto |
| Share Capital | 5,100,000 Japanese yen |
| Headquarters | Cross Gate 7th Floor, 1-101-1 Sakuragi-cho Naka-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan 231-0062. |
| Origin of Company Name | “Opticell” was born as a unification of the words “optimize” and “cell” to capture the essence of our goals: the best and most efficient utilization of cells. |
Founder Message
At Opticell, Inc., our philosophy is to contribute to the advancement of personalized medicine. Through the development of cellular medicine technology, which is expected to be the next generation of medicine, we strive to advance personalized medicine that would allow patients to choose the best treatment for their individual needs.
For example, in the near future, we envision the widespread use of personalized cellular medicine, which would allow the patient’s own cells to treat damage to bodily functions caused by injury or disease (such as blood disease, immune disorders, and nerve dysfunction). This treatment would be made possible by the new technology we have developed to generate hematopoietic or neural progenitor cells from the patient's own skin cells.
In the field of cancer treatment, we are pursuing the medical implementation of cell culture diagnostics, in which the patient’s cancer cells are cultured in vitro and a therapeutic drug candidate is applied directly to them to predict both efficacy and side effects. This would allow each patient to receive the best therapeutic drug for them.
For the cellular medicine we are striving for, not only are innovative technologies and intellectual property important, but also the integrated proteomic and transcriptomic landscape of cell state changes is critical. Similarly, the establishment of a collaborative industry-academia R&D ecosystem is invaluable. We aim to be an R&D startup where all parties create a win-win, mutually beneficial relationship that benefits all three sides: the buyer, the seller, and society.
We look forward to the continued support and cooperation of our stakeholders.
CEO and Founder
Tasuku Okamoto
Career
| 1984 | Graduate School of Environmental Science, University of Tsukuba (Master’s Degree) |
| 2007 | Graduate School of Business Management System Science, University of Tsukuba (MBA) |
| 1984～2007 | Engaged in R&D and clinical development in the pharmaceutical and medical device business division of Toray Industries, Inc. |
| 2007 | President of ProbeX, a biopharmaceutical start-up engaged in drug discovery R&D using optical molecular imaging technologies. |
| 2013 | Founded CREO Bioscience Inc. and worked on organ-on-a-chip drug discovery |
| 2023 | Founded OptiCell Inc. |
Access
Headquarters
Cross Gate 7th Floor, 1-101-1 Sakuragi-cho Naka-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan 231-0062URL https://opticell.co.jp/
Research laboratory
116-1 Tokiwa, Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan 248-0022
Shared lab facility in GeneCare Research Institute Co., Ltd.