A comprehensive portal site for Medical Innovation Support Office (MEDISO).Medical Innovation Support Office

Kensuke Suzuki

Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu
Partner, Attorney-at-law

Kensuke Suzuki is a partner at Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu. He represents both domestic and international clients, with a special focus on cross-border transactions, with respect to pharmaceutical, medical and healthcare business, M&A and corporate transactions, fund formation and management, and financial regulations. With expert knowledge of the Japanese medical, pharmaceutical, medical device, and other various healthcare-related regulations, he advises on a wide variety of business activities in the broad healthcare sector, such as regulatory compliance, data protection, mergers and acquisitions, alliances, business startups, financing, licensing and other commercial transactions. He was admitted to the Japan Bar in 2000 and worked as visiting attorney at Kirkland & Ellis （Chicago） from 2006 to 2007. He served as a special adviser to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare from 2014 to 2015. He is fluent in Japanese and English.

Saho Murakami

VISIONEO LLC CEO

After gaining clinical experience as an ophthalmologist, I served at the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA), where I was responsible for reviewing and providing consultations on pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and regenerative medical products in the fields of CNS, sensory organs, and anesthesiology. My work included designation reviews for Sakigake (pioneering) and orphan drugs, as well as post-marketing safety activities. Currently, I support business and clinical development across the healthcare and life sciences sectors, offering strategic and R&D advisory services to major corporations, startups, and venture capital firms.

Takeshi komatani

Takeshi S Komatani is currently principal litigation certified patent attorney in the field of chemical/pharma and bio/life sciences at a patent law firm, and has a number of counsels, including in academia, start-ups and big pharma internationally. Takeshi received his PhD from the University of Tokyo, Japan, received his LLB and LLM (global legal practice) from Keio University, and is currently a visiting professor at Kobe University, teaching IP strategy in entrepreneurship and Doshisha University (Kyoto). He has completed CEIPI Summer School on IP (University of Strasbourg), France. He is also qualified as a pharmacist with a certificate of Kampo and natural medicines specialist qualification. He was a researcher at F Hoffmann-La Roche in Basle, Switzerland. He has completed the EU-recognised PharmaTrain course at Osaka University, and is qualified as a board-certified member of the Japanese Association of Pharmaceutical Medicine. He is a member of the AIPPI and vice chair of TRIPS SC and a member of IP-GRTK SC and Pharma SC, and a member of the editorial board of the Pharmaceutical Patent Analyst (UK). He is also a member of JPAA, APAA, IPAJ, PSA, JPA, CSAIP and AAAS. He has lectured in academia, including at Japanese and German universities and WIPO Academy, and contributed to a number of articles.

Yutaka Kono

Guest professor
Drug Discovery Science Division,Institute for Open and Transdisciplinary Research Initiatives, Osaka University

Kazuhiro Takekita

Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Department of Vascular Regeneration and Podiatry, Associate Professor

He was involved in launching a project of regenerative medicine by using autologous skeletal muscle-derived cell sheets in the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University. Subsequently, he was involved in the evaluation of regenerative and biological devices at the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA). He performed several duties related to the Health Labour Sciences Research Grant, clinical study of human stem cells, and advanced medical care at the Research and Development Division, Health Policy Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. After that, he led the regenerative medical product evaluation unit as chief of the Office of Review for Regenerative Medical Product, PMDA. Also, he was involved in improving the legislation for regenerative medical products in the revision of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law in 2014. From August 2017, he has been serving as a specially appointed lecturer in the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, where he promotes projects to develop various products derived from human-induced pluripotent stem cells.