Change Cure
New Idea, New Cure
A large number of patients are suffering brain and nerve disorders called neurodegenerative diseases, which include common diseases like Alzheimer’s disease affecting more than 50,000,000 patients in the world and rare diseases affecting less than 10,000 patients in each nation. Irrespective of the number of patients, their lives are full of difficulties.
Change Cure is founded in 2021 by Professor Hitoshi Okazawa to challenge drug development for neurodegenerative diseases, from the aspect of new understanding of the pathology and based on discoveries of Professor Okazawa’s laboratory in Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU is planned to be united with Tokyo Institute of Technology in 2024).
The target diseases of Change Cure include Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (FTLD), Spinocerebellar Ataxias (SCAs), Huntington’s disease (HD) , Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s disease (PD) and so on. Modalities of therapeutics include antibody therapy, gene therapy and peptide therapy.
Strategies taken by Change Cure will be based on flexible but rigorously investigated ideas. We will not be afraid of challenges that integrate new ideas and new technologies. For cure of intractable neurological diseases, Change Cure will continue to change cures.
Founder, CEO
Hitoshi Okazawa, MD, PhD
History
May 23, 2024
Change Cure signed partnership agreement with GlycoNex Inc..
March 22, 2022
Change Cure received Exclusive License for anti-HMGB1 antibody from TMDU.
April 1, 2021
Prof. Okazawa’s project for Gene Therapy for SCA1 (AMED Step 1, preclinical study) is succeeded to Prof. Yabe’s project (AMED Step 2, clinical study). Prof. Okazawa continues to collaborate the project.
April 1, 2021
Prof. Okazawa’s project for Antibody Therapy for Dementia (AMED Step 1, preclinical study) is accepted.
February 1, 2021
Change Cure is founded in Yokohama Japan.
Main Bank is Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.
Adviser
Shun-ichi Tanaka
After graduation from university, Mr. Tanaka worked firstly in the field of architecture design and construction work. Mr. Tanaka founded his own architectural design company called Kankyo Keikaku Ai Co. Ltd. and became CEO of the company at the age of 25. Thereafter, Mr. Tanaka has been involved in corporate management, and has been steering a number of major stock market listed companies as a president and a board director. Currently, Mr. Tanaka is a consultant for C partners Inc. and manages the architectural division of the company.
Founder, CEO
Hitoshi Okazawa
MD, PhD
Professor Okazawa graduated from University of Tokyo (School of Medicine) in 1984, received Medical Doctor License in the same year, and received PhD degree from University of Tokyo (Graduate School of Medicine) in 1991. Professor Okazawa has clinical experiences as a neurologist almost for 40 years, and in parallel has a deep impact as a researcher in neuroscience and molecular biology, and has been Professor and Chair of Neuropathology in Tokyo Medical and Dental University from 2003.
Professor Okazawa discovered a master key transcription factor regulating initial differentiation of embryonic stem cell (ES cell) in 1990 (Cell 1990; EMBO J 1991; 1993), which was employed later for generation of iPS cells in Dr. Yamanaka's work awarded with Nobel Prize. Also Professor Okazawa’s team has pioneered new aspects of the neurodegenerative disease pathology (Nature Cell Biol 2007; Nature Commun 2013; 2014; 2017; 2018; 2020; 2021; 2023 etc). They proposed brand new ideas including intracellular amyloid-induced necrosis and HMGB1-mediated expansion of necrosis in AD pathology (see Discussion in Alzforum: https://www.alzforum.org/member-directory/hitoshi-okazawa).
Other references of Professor Okazawa's research
https://researchmap.jp/hitoshiokazawa?lang=en
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Hitoshi-Okazawa
https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/24241/overview
https://www.alzforum.org/member-directory/hitoshi-okazawa
Pipeline
Research Concept
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