OIST Innovation and Lifetime Ventures co-host Startup Elevate on September 29-30, 2025, at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST). This article features some of the startups that participated in this deep tech startup showcase event.
A Japanese biotech startup is emerging to address globally expanding unmet medical needs—diseases lacking effective treatments or adequate therapeutic options—with revolutionary technology. Crafton Biotechnology, a Nagoya University spinoff, aims to solve existing challenges in drug toxicity, and create safe, highly effective mRNA pharmaceuticals using its proprietary ultra-high purity capping technology “PureCap Analog” which can allow for high, repeated dosing that was a previous limitation.
On October 10, 2024, the company announced that Hayato Watanabe (pictured above, left) would assume the role of President and CEO. With over 20 years of investment experience, Watanabe is now taking on the challenge of being on the “invested” side. The company has raised non-dilutive funds from the Japanese government and a seed investor to date and is expanding from COVID-19 vaccine technology validation to building drug discovery pipelines including cancer vaccines.
The company’s technology and business strategy have been highly evaluated both domestically and internationally. In March 2024, it was selected for NEDO’s (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization) Deep Tech Startup Support Program STS Phase, and in September 2025, won the Best Pitch Award in the Healthcare category at Startup Elevate 2025 held in Okinawa. As Moderna, BioNTech, and Pfizer dominate the global mRNA market, Crafton Biotechnology is beginning its challenge to establish a unique position with Japanese-originated technology.
PureCap Solves mRNA Drug Challenges
Image credit: Crafton Biotechnology, with modification by Growthstock Pulse
mRNA drugs became widely known during the COVID-19 pandemic through Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. However, this groundbreaking technology had fundamental challenges. Conventional mRNA manufacturing using enzyme-based in vitro transcription reactions generates difficult-to-separate impurities during production.
The manufacturing process includes defective mRNAs called “double-stranded RNA” and “uncapped mRNA”. When these impurities enter the body, they can trigger inflammatory responses and potentially inhibit the intended vaccine effects.
These impurities are the major cause of side effects which limit the therapeutic potential of such drugs—double-stranded RNA and uncapped mRNA. Removing these is extremely difficult, but PureCap solves this and further expands the use of mRNA to treat other diseases. (Watanabe)
PureCap Analog successfully reduces inflammatory responses by approximately half compared to conventional mRNA while improving antibody responses by more than six times.
Concrete data demonstrating the company’s technological capabilities comes from cancer vaccine animal experiments. When mice with implanted skin cancer were administered vaccines using PureCap Analog, tumor sizes were reduced to less than one-fourth compared to groups that received no vaccine.
One group of cancers of significant interest is HPV (Human Papillomavirus)-related cancers, which affect 600,000 new patients annually worldwide, causing 300,000 deaths. Current treatments provide survival periods of only 10-13 months, with immune checkpoint inhibitors showing effectiveness rates of merely 20%.
HPV virus carriers represent 80% of the adult population. HPV causes various cancers—cervical cancer, head and neck cancer, and other highly malignant cancers. Our technology holds potential as a new treatment option. We are now in collaboration with a global cancer center and will pursue to bring this program to the clinic. (Watanabe)
The company is also developing world-first chemical synthesis mRNA technology beyond conventional mRNA manufacturing methods. NEDO’s Deep Tech Startup Support Program selected this chemical synthesis technology, expanding their technological scope.
Investment Professional Charts Drug Discovery Vision
From left: Hayato Watanabe, CEO and President of Crafton Biotechnology, Yutaro Kasai, Founder and CEO of Angel Bridge, Ryosuke Kimura, Founder and General Partner of Lifetime Ventures, Gil Granot-Mayer, Executive Vice President of OIST.
Photo credit: Growthstock Pulse
After graduate school, Watanabe worked at a securities company on pharmaceutical M&A, then joined investment teams at banks and securities firms before engaging with biotech and drug discovery ventures at the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ), focusing on early-stage and regenerative medicine investments. He subsequently worked at Eight Roads Ventures, Fidelity’s proprietary investment arm, on Japanese bioventure establishment and investments. His experience particularly includes handling numerous academia-originated deals in bioventure investments and company creation.
His connection to Crafton Biotechnology came through Kiichiro Kawada, who serves as the company’s director. Meeting with the company’s founders—Professor Hiroshi Abe from Nagoya University as Chief Science Officer and Professor Satoshi Uchida from Tokyo Medical and Dental University (now Institute of Science Tokyo) as Chief Medical Officer—Watanabe was impressed by their sincere dedication to science.
When I started biotech investing at INCJ and later at Eight Roads, I saw many academia-originated deals. Among them, regarding business aspects, business development, and how to grow ventures, academicians typically said ‘we don’t understand these ourselves, so we leave everything to you. (Watanabe)
University researchers excel at technology development but often lack business experience. Watanabe’s participation, with over 20 years of investment experience, provides valuable management resources combining both technical and business expertise for the company.
Since deciding to assume the CEO role in October 2024, Watanabe has been building strategic teams with global expansion in mind. In April 2024, they established a U.S. subsidiary and brought in Kelvin Chan, PhD (pictured right in the top photo) as CTO and CBO, who has extensive experience in mRNA bioventures and mRNA CDMO (Contract Development and Manufacturing Organizations).
Co-founders Professor Abe and Professor Uchida both said they would do whatever it takes as long as the technology they developed ultimately gets administered to patients and helps them. Those words moved me deeply. (Watanabe)
Two-Pronged Strategy: National Projects and Private Drug Discovery
From left: Yushin Tojo, Executive Director and Vice President (Director of the Institute of Innovation), Satoshi Uchida, Professor and Director, Kaori Iida, Professor and Director of the Open Innovation Center.
Photo credit: Institute of Science Tokyo
Crafton Biotechnology’s strategic sophistication lies in establishing foundational technology credibility through national project technology validation, then expanding into profitable private drug discovery businesses.
The company has secured significant funding from SCARDA (Strategic Center of Biomedical Advanced Research and Development for Preparedness & Response), established by AMED (Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development). This represents part of a national project aimed at establishing Japan’s vaccine business infrastructure. Phase I clinical trial data on safety and antibody responses are expected in 2027, enabling PureCap technology to establish “proof of principle” for safety and efficacy in actual human subjects.
The substantial funding from the government was primarily to build mRNA vaccine manufacturing platforms. SCARDA’s major objective is to enable complete domestic procurement of everything needed for vaccine manufacturing—from raw materials to administration devices, all producible by domestic manufacturers and within Japan. (Watanabe)
This initiative aims to create self-sufficient infrastructure capable of responding to supply chain disruptions during emergencies like pandemics, building complete domestic procurement systems from raw materials to administration devices.
This strategy reflects lessons from Japan’s “vaccine defeat” during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Japan had to depend on overseas vaccine supplies and domestic vaccine development was significantly delayed. Establishing the company’s technology could substantially reduce risks of Japan repeating the same situation in future pandemics.
However, Watanabe clearly recognizes the limitations of national projects.
COVID-19 vaccine development represents highly meaningful work with great social significance, but has commercial limitations in terms of what a bioventure should be going after. Meanwhile, the cancer vaccine market is rapidly expanding, and our PureCap technology has strong potential for cancer treatment applications. We’ve begun joint research with cancer centers around the world and pharmaceutical companies to develop this into profitable drug discovery pipelines. (Watanabe)
On January 26, 2024, the company was officially recognized as a “Tokyo Medical and Dental University-originated venture.” This officially recognizes the company’s technology foundation from two prestigious universities: Nagoya University and Tokyo Medical and Dental University (now Institute of Science Tokyo) .
Global Competition and Fundraising Strategy
Photo credit: Crafton Biotechnology
One major challenge facing Japanese bioventures is constraints from domestic regulatory environments. Since mRNA development other than infectious disease vaccines remains difficult domestically, the company adopts development strategies premised on overseas clinical trials.
For example, Australia offers well-established clinical trial environments, high safety data reliability due to its diverse population composition, and systems providing 50% subsidies for clinical trial costs when local subsidiaries are established. It’s rapidly gaining prominence as a clinical trial hub for global bioventures.
In the global mRNA market, approximately 50-100 venture companies operate primarily in the US, while Japan has only a few companies including publicly-listed NANO MRNA and Crafton Biotechnology. Regarding competitive landscapes, Watanabe emphasizes that other domestic mRNA ventures all use conventional cap technology, while no one else possesses foundational technology like theirs.
Kyoto University’s iPS research institute licenses all iPS technology non-exclusively worldwide—we want to proceed similarly. While we naturally use PureCap technology exclusively, we’ll license to other companies in non-competing areas. (Watanabe)
He indicates strategic licensing alongside exclusive utilization of their foundational technology.
This strategy enables multiple revenue streams through proprietary drug discovery and technology licensing income. Like Kyoto University’s iPS cell technology approach, broadly disseminating foundational technology contributes to overall Japanese mRNA ecosystem improvement while aiming for technology standardization.
Many bioventures adopt hybrid business models combining proprietary drug discovery with contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) services. This approach secures stable contract revenue while supporting high-risk drug discovery operations. However, Watanabe chose a different strategy.
We will focus on drug discovery rather than CDMO operations. We view CDMOs as key partners who bring on deep expertise in chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC), but ultimately we are not a service business but a R&D business. Focus allows us to direct our limited resources on what we do best, and still be able to leverage the knowledge and capabilities of our trusted CDMO partners, while avoiding a CAPEX-heavy business model. My condition for management participation was clear: “if we’re doing drug discovery, we should specialize in drug discovery and nothing else.” (Watanabe)
One of the greatest challenges facing bioventures is the so-called “death valley” period of difficult fundraising between late seed and Series A stages. Currently, the company is progressing with 500 million yen seed-plus fundraising, with funds earmarked for HPV cancer vaccine preclinical trials and CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls) improvements.
While government funding utilization demonstrates technology validity, private investors sometimes express dependency concerns. However, a notable aspect of the company’s fundraising strategy is combining strategic investments from operating companies, enabling technology validation and future partnership possibilities beyond mere fundraising.
Receiving investment is critical for all startups. We’re actively fundraising. We’ve secured multiple grants in Japan, but we plan to secure investment by year-end. We’re talking with US investors who are eager to also support our US expansion. (Watanabe)
CC2.0
In the global mRNA market, this year alone has seen AbbVie acquire Capstan Therapeutics for $2.1 billion USD, and BioNTech acquire CureVac for a total of $1.7 billion USD, demonstrating accelerating acquisitions by major pharmaceutical companies in the mRNA field.
When clinical trial results are favorable and target diseases have high market potential, acquisitions are possible even at Phase I clinical trial stages, Watanabe analyzes, while maintaining flexible exit strategies including IPO possibilities.
2027 represents a critical milestone, with SCARDA project COVID-19 vaccine Phase I clinical trial data establishing proof of principle for their technology. Concurrently progressing HPV cancer vaccine development aims to transition from preclinical to clinical trials within approximately three years.
The company plans to implement Series A (approximately 2 billion yen) and Series B (similar amounts) fundraising sequentially, enabling simultaneous advancement of multiple pipelines. Simultaneously, the company’s challenge extends beyond corporate growth, bearing the mission of establishing Japan’s medical security.
SCARDA grant’s primary purpose was establishing pandemic response vaccine manufacturing infrastructure. Based on this national project track record, we want to demonstrate success stories in commercially-viable drug discovery operations. (Watanabe)
This statement reflects serious pharmaceutical trade deficit concerns. The Japanese Ministry of Finance statistics show expanding import surpluses annually, with particularly high overseas dependency in biopharmaceuticals. Founder Professor Abe also stated at the 2022 establishment press conference that he “started the company from strong crisis awareness about Japan’s expanding pharmaceutical trade deficit.”
The company’s strategy elevates Japan’s overall mRNA venture capabilities and attracts overseas investor interest. The process of translating basic research into practical applications and developing globally competitive companies embodies Japan’s science and technology strategies.
Technically, this contributes to improving access to expensive cancer immunotherapies. For HPV-related cancers, combining preventive and therapeutic vaccines especially in the post-operative setting offers comprehensive approaches toward disease management and ideally eradication. PureCap technology’s safety and efficacy improvements create social impact by expanding treatment opportunities for more patients.
As Moderna and BioNTech demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic, companies with excellent mRNA technology platforms can create enormous market value in short timeframes. How the company navigates the path from technology validation to commercialization and growth into a global enterprise will serve as a touchstone for the future of Japan’s biotech-industry.
Growthstock Pulse 
