Our Strategy
A Xenotransplantation Venture
saving Kidneys
A Xenotransplantation Venture saving Kidneys
MISSION
Engineering the next era of kidney treatment:
precision disease models × transplantable organs.
Worldwide, the number of people living with kidney failure continues to rise, while the shortage of donor organs is growing increasingly severe. As transplantation fails to meet demand, patients remain dependent on dialysis, face prolonged wait times, and bear escalating healthcare costs. We accelerate kidney-failure science with high-fidelity animal models and pioneer therapies built on next-generation engineered organs for pediatric and adult disease.
NEWS
OUR STUDY
Toward Definitive Therapies for Kidney Failure
We have conducted continuous research on therapies for kidney failure at The Jikei University School of Medicine over many years. Our work using fetal porcine kidneys is recognized worldwide for its distinctiveness. In recent years, we have developed the research animal model “ATTAC-9 CKD,” which recapitulates chronic kidney disease, and we are advancing the development of therapeutic approaches for congenital kidney failure.
ATTAC-9 system
Novel apoptosis system enables
effcient cell ablation
We developed a system in which administration of a placenta-permeable agent activates caspase-9 and induces apoptosis in progenitor cells. Introducing this system into nephron progenitor cells produced an animal model that develops kidney failure due to a low nephron number.Using this platform, apoptosis-based ablation of progenitor cells is applicable to other organs, and validation studies in additional organs are currently underway.
IMFORMATION
MEMBERS
Shuichiro Yamanaka
Chief Executive Officer
While practicing clinical nephrology under Professor Yokoo, he has secured multiple competitive public research grants. By publishing and presenting his findings—and receiving awards—he has driven the research forward and built a network of collaborators within and beyond the university. To translate the ATTAC-9 chronic kidney disease animal model and therapies using porcine kidneys into real-world practice, he founded MEDIXENO Co., Ltd.
Shutaro Yamamoto
Chief Operating Officer
After gaining clinical experience as a urologist, he joined the Yokoo Laboratory as a graduate student. In addition to conducting experiments that require surgical procedures, he has driven gene-editing R&D, including the development of the ATTAC-9 chronic kidney disease animal model. He has been involved with MEDIXENO Co., Ltd. since its founding.
Takashi Yokoo
Scientific adviser
As Professor in the Department of Nephrology and Hypertension at The Jikei University School of Medicine, he has long been a leader in kidney-regeneration research in Japan and internationally. He has advocated “xeno-regenerative medicine”—an approach that combines xenogeneic fetal kidneys with induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells—and continues to drive the field forward. He serves as an advisor to MEDIXENO Co., Ltd.