About Us
EPS Innovative Medicine 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) Limited 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
President and Representative Corporate Officer and CEO
Satoshi Okoso
EPS Innovative Medicine (Japan) Limited was founded on October 8, 2021 as the core company of the Drug Discovery and Development of the healthcare business operated by EPS Creative Health Technology Group Limited.
Recently, the environment in the pharmaceutical market in Europe, the U.S., Asia including Japan has been changing dramatically. The global pharmaceutical market continues to expand day by day, and the pharmaceutical market in Asia, including China, is growing at a tremendous pace. Among them, China’s market size reached the same level as Japan’s in 2015 and exceeded Japan in 2018 to become the second largest market in the world. The market is expected to be $170 billion in 2023 and to continue to grow at a high rate.
In addition, if we look at the share of the number of new drugs in the world in recent years, approximately 80% of them have been originated by biotech companies, while conventionally major pharmaceutical companies spent many years in research and development with a large amount of resources. Unfortunately, however, the environment in Japan is not yet supportive of bringing the drug candidates discovered by academic organizations and biotech companies, and it is not easy to develop these candidates into new drug products.
EPS Innovative Medicine (Japan) Limited will not only research and develop drug candidates in-house, but will also acquire licenses to develop and market promising drug candidates from academic organizations and biotech companies, and will utilize the knowledge and know-how accumulated by the EPS Group to deliver new drugs not only to Japan, but also to the ever-growing Chinese market.
EPS Innovative Medicine (Japan) Limited is committed to making progress to meet the expectations of patients and families who desire new drugs, as a drug discovery company linking Japan, China, and other Asian countries.
Management Team
Audit & Supervisory Board Member
Corporate Officer Structure
Satoshi Okoso
Representative Director, President and Representative Corporate Officer and CEO
Satoshi Okoso Joined Green Cross Corporation (currently Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation). He retired from the company after serving as the Planning Section Manager of the Sales Planning Department and the Head of the President’s Office. He founded Mebix, Inc. in 2001 and concurrently served as a researcher at the Graduate School of Medicine at the University of Tokyo in the same year. In 2005, Mebix, Inc. was listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers. He was appointed Chairman of Sogo Rinsho Medifi Co., Ltd. in 2013 and Vice President of Sogo Rinsho HD in 2014. At EPS, after serving as Executive Vice President of SMO Segment, he concurrently served as Managing Corporate Officer of EPS Holdings, Inc., Deputy General Manager of Business Management Division and Representative Director & CEO of EPS Innovative Medicine.
Xia Xiangming
Audit & Supervisory Board Member
In 1981, he started to study at Laboratory of Genetics (currently Laboratory of Molecular Genetics) in Okayama University as a student sponsored by Chinese government and afterward received a Master of Science. After returning to the country, he worked for nearly 20 years at the China International Trade Promotion Commission (CCPIT), being engaged in trade, investment, and technology exchange projects between Japan and China. He retired from the organization when he was Chief Executive Officer of the its Japan office. In 2008, he joined EPS China Co., Ltd., which was EPS’s Regional Headquarters in China, and was involved in the business foundation and development of EPS China Co., Ltd. Afterward he served as President and Vice Chairman. In 2018, Xia Xiangming was appointed Corporate Officer and Counselor of EPS Holdings Co., Ltd., and was mainly responsible for the management support and the administration of EPS Creative Health Technology Group Limited. He is also serving as Audit & Supervisory Board Member of EPS Innovative Medicine (Japan) Limited. He has experience in social activities as Vice Chairman of the Association of Chinese Enterprises in Japan and Managing Director of Chinese Chamber of Commerce Japan, etc.
Tomohiro Nakatani
Corporate Officer, Vice President and COO
Tomohiro Nakatani worked 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 Statistical Analysis Office, Director of Clinical Analysis Department, Director of Project Management Department, and Director of Development Promotion Department. He was also involved in industry activities as a member of the Steering Committee of the Pharmaceutical Evaluation Committee starting in 2012 and as Chairman of the Association Review Committee for Product Information Brochure Center for Pharmaceutical Publication from 2017 to 2021 at Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association. Tomohiro Nakatani joined EPS Holdings, Inc. in 2022, concurrently serving as Corporate Officer, Vice President and COO of EPS Innovative Medicine (Japan) Limited. He is a pharmacist and a trial statistician certified by the Biometric Society of Japan.
Keikyo Haribayashi
Corporate Officer & CFO
Keikyo Haribayashi started his career at the financial department of Sumida Sedrin Brewery in Fujian Province, China until he resigned in 1990. From 1995 to 2001, he worked on finance and accounting at KPMG Peat Marwick in Japan. He moved to Sun Japan Co., Ltd. in 2001 and held the positions of Finance Manager and International Business Administration Manager. In 2016, he started to serve as Corporate Planning Manager of Corporate Management Division at Software Research Associates,Inc. In 2018, he was appointed Manager of Finance Office of EPS Holdings Co., Ltd., and in October of the same year, he joined EPS China Co., Ltd. and served as Corporate Officer and General Manager of Finance Department. Since 2022, he has concurrently served as Corporate Officer and CFO of EPS Innovative Medicine (Japan) Limited.
Tomohisa Hayakawa
Corporate Officer
Tomohisa Hayakawa worked on 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) Limited. 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. Ph. D in pharmacy and a pharmacist.
Toshihiko Komori
Advisor
Toshihiko Komori started to work on research, development, and project management in several therapeutic areas including immunology, oncology, and metabolic disorders at Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd in 1983. After the company’s alliance with Roche in 2002, he was mainly in charge of project and portfolio management, early clinical development, etc. In March 2020, after the completion of his tenure as Corporate Officer, he became Corporation’s Advisor of EPS Holdings, Inc. in October, and in 2022, he also began to serve concurrently as Advisor of EPS Innovative Medicine (Japan) Limited.
Tetsuro Yamamoto
Head of Research Center
Tetsuro Yamamoto founded TTC Corporation, a food CRO and became President and Representative Director in February 2001. In 2020, he was appointed EPS Research Center Director of EPS Holdings, Inc., following the merger of his company with EPS Holdings Co., Ltd. In the meantime, he served as a visiting professor and a part-time lecturer at eight universities, including Graduate Schoolof Medicine, The University of Tokyo. In 2005, he established TMS Co., Ltd. and became Representative Director. In 2021, the company and Biogen Inc. in U.S. succeeded in Phase II trial for a new drug to treat acute ischemic strokes. TMS entered into an agreement with Biogen Inc. for $357 million as milestone payments and approximately 10% of expected future sales as royalty payments. In February 1999, Tetsuro Yamamoto won the first Hiratani Tamio Commemorative Awards (a study on killatoxin of Hansenula mrakii yeast). His achievement contributed significantly to the study by Kurt Wüthrich (Switzerland), a winner of Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2002, on NMR spectroscopy for the identification of three-dimensional structure of biopolymers. He is a PhD of engineering.