About Us
EPS Innovative Medicine Co., Ltd. will serve as a
bridge to send
promising seeds from
both Japan and overseas to
the market
as soon as possible.
About Us
EPS Innovative Medicine (Japan) Co., Ltd. is the core company of the drug discovery and development of the healthcare business operated by EPS Creative Health Technology Group Limited. Our business is to enhance the value of drug candidates and technologies introduced by our joint venture (JV), which is a company of our group, or those found in our research division, by combining the knowledge and know-how accumulated by EPS Group over many years and promoting clinical development on our own. We will then realize the manufacturing and launching in Japan and particularly in China or licensing them to our partner enterprises.
We will build a platform for new drug discovery and regenerative medicine and act as a “bridge” so that promising drug candidates and technologies in Japan and other countries can be delivered early not only in Japan but to the world market, particularly in Asia.
Greetings from the President
Representative Director
Executive Vice President and Executive Officer
Tomohiro Nakatani
EPS Innovative Medicine (Japan) Co., Ltd. was established on October 8, 2021, as a company responsible for the drug discovery business , which the EPS Group is challenging as a new business domain.. It comprises the Development Promotion Center and the Research Center as its drug discovery divisions. The Development Promotion Center supports affiliated companies of the EPS Group, such as FEF Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and EPD Co., Ltd., which specialize in the development of technologies and drug candidates discovered by academia, and is engaged in the development of new drugs and regenerative medicine. The Research Center focuses on secretory IgA present in the mucous membranes throughout the body and conducts research on its association with allergic diseases, as well as studies on tongue sublingual vaccines that enhance defense against bacterial and viral infections. The technologies and drug candidates that EPS Innovative Medicine (Japan) Co., Ltd., Ltd. is working on in its research and development are still in the early stages, and the technologies and drug candidates of FEF Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., which are about to start Phase I/II investigator-initiated trials, are at the most advanced stage of development. By leveraging the knowledge, talent, and network that the EPS Group has cultivated through clinical trial support in Japan and China, EPS Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. aims to steadily advance clinical development, enhance the value of the technologies and drug candidates, and deliver outputs to the Asian market, with a focus on Japan and China.
Management Team
Director and Audit & Supervisory Board Member
Executive Officers
Yuya Ishii
Executive Officer
Masataka Haraguchi
Advisor
In 1982, he started to work at TERUMO CORPORATION as Business Development Planning, President of D&D (drug and device) Business, and General Manager of Sales Division . After retiring as a senior Corporate Officer and Director in March 2023, he was appointed as Advisor to EPS Holdings, Inc. and Advisor to EPS Innovative Medicine (Japan) Co., Ltd.
Tomohiro Nakatani
Executive Vice President and Executive Officer
Tomohiro Nakatani started his career at Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co., Ltd. (currently Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd.). While working there, he started to study as a research student at the Faculty of Medicine (Epidemiology and Biostatistics School) of the University of Tokyo in 1990, and was engaged in clinical development operations in Japan and the United States. He served as the head of Biostatistics, Data Management, and Clinical Pharmacology Department, Director of Project Management Department, and Director of Development Coordination Department. He was also involved in industry activities as a member of the Steering Committee of the Drug Evaluation Committee starting in 2012 and as Chairman of the Review Board of Ethical Drug Product Information Brochure from 2017 to 2021 at Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association. He joined EPS Holdings, Inc. in 2023, concurrently serving as Representative Director President and Representative Executive Officer and CEO of EPS Innovative Medicine (Japan) Co., Ltd. He is a pharmacist and a trial statistician certified by the Biometric Society of Japan.
Tomohisa Hayakawa
Advisor
Tomohisa Hayakawa was engaged in clinical development planning and project management in Japan, the U.S. and Europe at Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Daiichi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. He joined EPS in 2007 and was in charge of project management and business development in Japan, China, and Asia. Since 2021, he has been concurrently held the position of Corporate Officer of EPS Innovative Medicine (Japan) Co., Ltd. He was appointed President and Representative Director of EPD Co., Ltd. in the same year. He has extensive experience in oncology area. He also has experience in public activities as a member of the Research Evaluation Committee of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) and a program committee member of the DIA Annual Conference in Japan for Asian New Drug Development, etc. He is a Ph. D in pharmacy and a pharmacist.
Xiaotong Zhuang
Executive Officer
Shinji Yano
Executive Officer
Atsushi Kotani
Executive Officer
After completing the graduate school, Atsushi Kotani started to work on basic research, exploration research and drug discovery research at Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, seconded from a Japanese pharmaceutical company. Mr. Kotani joined EPS Corporation in 2008 and started to work on clinical development as a monitoring manager. In 2019, he started to work concurrently for Investment Strategy Department of EPS Holdings, Inc. and implemented drug discovery-related projects through investments in biotech companies and other means. He became Board Member of FEF Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. in 2021 and is leading in-house product developments.In October 2023, he was appointed as Executive Officer of EPS Innovative Medicine (Japan) Co., Ltd..
Masanori Suzuki
Advisor
He joined DAIICHI PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD. (DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, LIMITED). After working in sales, the international department, and stationed in the U.S., he has been engaged in the development of oncology drugs since 1992. In 1995, he was approved as the product leader for irinotecan hydrochloride. Since 1996, he has been a global project leader, formulating global development strategies and plans, and conducting simultaneous development in Japan, the United States, and Europe. Since 2004, he has been engaged in the introduction of anticancer drugs in the R&D Planning Department. Since 2005, he has been in the Clinical Development Department, where he has directed and supervised the domestic development of anticancer drugs and contrast agents. Since 2007, he has served as a Global & Local Project Leader for many anticancer drugs as Senior Director of the Clinical Development Department of DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, LIMITED. Since 2013, he has served as the Global Translational Research Project Leader for Preclinical stage anticancer drugs (T-DXd: Enhertz ®) as Senior Director of the Development Planning Department. In February 2015, he joined PAREXEL INTERNATIONAL as a Senior Consultant. Immediately afterwards, he received an invitation from EPS to strengthen the Oncology area, and joined the company in September of the same year as a special officer attached to the president. He was responsible for projects and training in the Oncology area. In October 2021, he was transferred to EPS Holdings, Inc., where he planned and implemented training to strengthen the Oncology area for the entire group. He has been a advisor since April 2023. Since October of the same year, he has also served as an advisor of EPS Innovative Medicine (Japan) Co., Ltd..
Chie Matsuyama
Executive Officer
With a background in a biostatistics field, she began her career in the clinical development department of a domestic pharmaceutical company, where she worked on statistical analysis for clinical trials. In 2003, she joined EPS Corporation, serving as a statistical analysis leader in the Clinical Information Division. During her tenure, she completed the Medical Statistics Course at Tokyo University of Science Graduate School. She subsequently contributed to the establishment of the company’s statistical analysis framework. In October 2021, she became the Director of the Data Science Center in the Clinical Development Business Division, and in April 2023, she was appointed as the Executive Officer overseeing the Data Science Center. In October 2024, she assumed the role of the Executive Officer at EPS Innovative Medicine (Japan) Co., Ltd.