Opening of “iPS Factory” for each patient Donation Fastri Tadashi Yanai “Dreams Expand”
On the 20th, the Kyoto University iPS Cell Research Foundation (Kyoto City) opened the Yanai my iPS Manufacturing Co., Ltd., a facility in Osaka City that makes and stores iPS cells individually from human cells. At the press conference, Shinya Yamanaka, a professor at Kyoto University and chairman of the board, said, “We would like to have many companies use it and proceed with demonstrations for the clinical application of My iPS (derived from the individual) with less rejection.”
Tadashi Yanai, chairman and president of Fast Retailing, has endorsed the project and will donate 500 million yen every year for nine years starting in fiscal 2021. The facility was built with this donation and bears his name. Mr. Yanai also attended the press conference and said, “This is the first time I have come to the factory and received an explanation, but the cultivation technology is wonderful, and it is a project that makes my dreams grow.”
The manufacturing facility has a total floor area of about 1,200 square meters, and fully automatically cultivates My iPS and other products. The problem was that the production cost of My iPS was high, but it can be made cheaply by culturing it fully automatically. The company began manufacturing iPS cells on a trial basis in April. In May, the company obtained a license to manufacture cells for clinical research and established a manufacturing system for R&D companies.
Cells have a type called “HLA” like a blood type, and when cells or tissues of a different HLA type are transplanted, rejection often occurs. The Foundation is promoting the production and stockpiling of iPS cells that are less likely to cause rejection, and will manufacture and store My iPS at the facility, mainly for people who experience rejection of iPS cells.