NEWS / IR

Cellusion receives “CGCS Pioneer Awards”
at “The 5th International Cell & Gene Therapy China Summit & Exhibition (CGCS2024)” held in Nanjing, China.

2024.05.27

Cellusion Inc. (CEO: Shin Hatou, M.D. Ph.D., “Cellusion”), a deep tech start-up developing iPS cell-derived corneal endothelial cell substitute for the treatment of bullous keratopathy, announced that the company received the “CGCS Pioneer Award” at the 5th International Cell & Gene Therapy China Summit & Exhibition (CGCS2024) hosted by Chujie Bio.

CGCS Pioneer Awards ceremony
(second from right: Cellusion CEO Shin Hatou)

CGCS2024, one of the largest cell and gene therapy summits and exhibitions in APAC, was held in Nanjing, China from May 22 to 24, 2024.
On May 23, the “CGCS Pioneer Awards” took place to honor innovative companies, and Cellusion was selected as one of the winners, with our CEO, Shin Hatou, taking the stage at the awards ceremony.

Prior to the award ceremony, he gave a special lecture, introducing the progress of our R&D efforts to establish a new treatment for bullous keratopathy using Corneal Endothelial Cell Substitute from iPS Cells (CLS001). He then participated in a panel discussion with CSO Meijia Yang of Jiangsu Cell Tech Medical Research Institute, one of the chairpersons of CGCS2024, and CEO Greg Kunst of Aurion Biotech, and presented the results of a study on the use of corneal endothelial cells from two different origins. They had a meaningful discussion about the therapeutic potential of two different corneal endothelial cell preparations.

       Left: Special lecture / Right: Panel discussion

[About CGCS]
CGCS is one of the largest cell and gene therapy summits and exhibitions in APAC and now in its fifth year. CGCS 2024 was held over three days from May 22-24, 2024, and attracted 150 world-class speakers, 200 exhibitors, and 6,000 attendees from regulators, leading pharma and biotech companies, and academia. Many updates were presented in the areas of clinical strategies for CGT, innovative cellular therapies, AAV gene therapy, RNA therapeutics, and more.
For more information, please visit the link below:
https://www.bagevent.com/event/8756147

[About CLS001]
CLS001 is alternative cell to corneal endothelial cells produced by efficiently differentiating iPS cells, which can be differentiated into various types of cells, based on Cellusion’s proprietary technique. Cellusion is promoting the development of CLS001 as a therapeutic regenerative medicine product for bullous keratopathy, which accounts for more than half of the corneal transplant cases, by combining “CECSi Cells* made from iPS cells with excellent proliferative properties” and “a simple injection cell delivery procedure without needs of human expertise.” Cellusion is also advancing preparations for company-sponsored clinical trials in Japan, as well as preparations for global clinical trials.*CECSi Cells: Corneal Endothelial Cell Substitute from iPS Cells”

[About Bullous Keratopathy]
Bullous keratopathy is a rare disease that occurs when corneal endothelial cells, which control the amount of fluid at the inner-most part of the cornea, decrease due to eye surgery of cataract or genetic factors, resulting in problems with their function, whereby the cornea becomes swollen and causes visual impairment due to opacity. This disease is progressive and may lead to blindness if left untreated. Today, this disease can only be treated by transplanting normally functioning corneal endothelial cells via corneal transplant. Nevertheless, as with other organ transplants, corneal transplants are also facing a serious problem of donor shortage. In Japan alone, it is estimated that there are about 10,000 patients, and in the global survey conducted in 2013 it was reported that approximately 13 million patients are waiting for corneal transplants.

[About Cellusion]
Cellusion is a regenerative medicine start-up originating from the Department of Ophthalmology, Keio University School of Medicine, with “Regenerating Human Potential” as its mission and “More Freedom and More Smiles to the World” as its vision. Based on patented technology such as its proprietary technique of efficiently producing corneal endothelial substitute cell from iPS cells, Cellusion is promoting R&D aimed at meeting medical needs from the perspective of “patient centricity” by leveraging cutting-edge regenerative medicine technology, including the lead program CLS001 that aims to meet the global corneal transplant demands.

Company: Cellusion Inc.
CEO: Shin Hatou, M.D., Ph.D.
Headquarters: Harumi Center bldg. 5th floor, 2-5-24 Harumi, Chuo, Tokyo 104-0053, JAPAN
Founded: January 2015
URL: https://cellusion.jp/en/

For further information: please ask us through the contact form on our website.


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