ImaginAB Formally Opens Japanese Subsidiary
ImaginAB announced the launch of its wholly owned subsidiary ImaginAB Japan KK. The Tokyo-based company will supply commercial needs of several crucial clinical development and collaboration opportunities for the company.
Dr. Shintaro Nishimura, who will lead the subsidiary company, said, “ImaginAb Japan KK has the unique potential to address the significant market for PET products here, combining ImaginAb's novel imaging agents and an understanding of the Japanese regulatory and market engagement requirements. For example, we see opportunities for ImaginAb's T-cell imaging products given the recent change in regulatory landscape for regenerative medicine and cell therapies. There is also a major opportunity for ImaginAb's lead program for imaging metastatic prostate cancer because of a growing patient population with distinct diagnostic and staging needs.”
Dr. Christian Behrenbruch, co-founder and CEO of ImaginAb, said that Dr. Nishimura’s knowledge and connections within the Japanese nuclear medicine and biopharmaceutical field are expected to advance the company through regulatory dialogs and clinical collaborations in the country.
The company’s current pipeline comprises imaging agents for a variety of cancers, including prostate, ovarian, and pancreatic. In particular, ImaginAB is focusing on its CD3 and CD8 ‘immunoPET’ imaging to understand the role of immune function and response in different disease settings, such as those in cancer and autoimmune disease. The company has approximately 30 target partnerships with global pharmaceutical firms centered on a variety of cancers, and neurodegenerative and immune diseases.
“The establishment of a Japanese presence for ImaginAb, including leadership from Dr. Nishimura, is an important milestone for the company. Japan is a major market for imaging with Positron Emission Tomography (PET) with a substantial and mature clinical installation footprint. We see significant prospects for ImaginAb in Japan, both in the clinical setting but also in collaboration with Japanese biopharmaceutical companies, which have made a significant commitment to the use of molecular imaging in drug development,” said Dr. Behrenbruch.