About us

Management Policy

Corporate Philosophy

By pursuing new possibilities for SLC transporters and developing innovative new drugs that address unmet medical needs, we will contribute to supporting people around the world to maintain good health and hope.

Code of Conduct

Goals for 2030

First-in-Class drug discovery from a venture company

Obtaining approval of LAT1 inhibitor (nanvuranlat) as monotherapy for the treatment of biliary tract cancer
Pursuing LAT1 inhibitors’ potential as a new immune agonist and expanding into other cancer types, autoimmune diseases, and personalized medicine
Creating new drugs targeting unexplored transporters
Creating a platform for SLC transporter drug discovery technology and structuring continuous drug discovery

Management

Keiichi Masuya, Ph.D. (XXX Masuya), Co-CEO

Keiichi Masuya, Ph.D. Co-CEO

Keiichi was appointed Co-CEO in April 2025. Prior to this, he held the position of Head of PPI Drug Discovery and Leading Scientist at Novartis International AG (Switzerland). After that, he played a pivotal role in driving the exponential growth of PeptiDream Inc., where revenue increased dozens of times, as Director & COO.

Masuhiro Yoshitake (Max Yoshitake), President & CEO

Masuhiro (Max) Yoshitake President & CEO

Max was appointed President & CEO in December 2018. Prior to this, he held leadership positions in the global pharmaceutical business at Otsuka for over 30 years and served as Senior Executive Officer since 2007. While serving as Director of the U.S. office/laboratory and global business units, he successfully obtained FDA and EMA approvals for three pharmaceutical products.

Yutaka Fujimoto (Yuta Fujimoto), Director & CFO

Yutaka (Yuta) Fujimoto Director & CFO

Yuta was appointed CFO in July 2023. He started career at ZS Associates as a consultant for pharma in Japan and US. After that, he engaged in global marketing at Otsuka as Director of Business Intelligence. Subsequently, he started his own companies (Zpeer and VetScope) and increased their value by 200 times, eventually selling them to a global fund.

Corporate Governance

Our core management policy is to continuously enhance corporate value by maintaining transparency with shareholders and other stakeholders and by ensuring efficient and effective management practices. J-Pharma has chosen a “company with Audit and Supervisory Committee” structure to match the scale and nature of our business and to promote efficient management.
J-Pharma’s corporate governance structure is as follows:

Director Board of directors

Representative Director　President & CEO	Masuhiro Yoshitake
Representative Director & Co-CEO	Keiichi Masuya
Director CFO	Yutaka Fujimoto
External Director	Sadashi Suzuki (Newton Biocapital Partners)
External Director	Shinichiro Komoto (EIGHT ROADS VENTURES JAPAN)
External Director	Kazunobu Nishimura (Shinsei Corporate Investment)
External Director	Reiri Miura (SIIF Impact Capital)
External Director	Takuma Tsuzuku (JIC Venture Growth Investments Co., Ltd.)
External Director　Chair of Audit and Supervisory Committee	Toshiyuki Mori
External Director　Audit and Supervisory Committee Member	Teruhisa Tajima (certified public accountant)
External Director　Audit and Supervisory Committee Member	Kosaku Kawaguchi (Lawyer)

History

1993 Started fundamental research and application of transporters at Kyorin University
1998 Identified LAT1, a novel cancer-specific essential amino acid transporter protein
Dec 2005 Established J-Pharma Co., Ltd.
Oct 2006 Awarded the Medical Device Practical Research Support Project funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Innovation for “Development of drug for treating hyperphosphatemia” by J-Pharma
Sep 2007 Awarded Innovation Practical Application Project from New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) for “Development of scirrhous stomach cancer therapy” by J-Pharma
Oct 2007 Awarded Molecular Imaging Research Program from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) for “Development of novel molecular probes targeting cancer cell-specific membrane proteins” by J-Pharma
Aug 2009 Awarded Innovation Promotion Project from NEDO for “R&D project and clinical phase 1 study of a novel phosphoric acid adsorbent JPH101” by J-Pharma
Aug 2010 Awarded Technology Development for Promoting the Transfer of Basic Research to Clinical Research from NEDO for “Research and Development of a New Anticancer Therapy Targeting Essential Amino Acid Transporter (LAT1) Expressed in Cancer Cells”
Apr 2013 Awarded Venture Practical Application Grant Project from NEDO for “Clinical development of an innovative anticancer drug by inhibiting amino acid transporter” by J-Pharma
Jul 2013 Awarded a Special Zone Leading Project Grant from Yokohama City for “Development of an in vitro diagnostic kit for triple-negative malignant breast tumor” by J-Pharma
May 2014 Awarded Venture Practical Application Grant Project from NEDO for “Establishing POC of a novel anti-cancer drug nanvuranlat (Development code: JPH203) by clinical trials” by J-Pharma
Jul 2014 Awarded a Special Zone Leading Project Grant from Yokohama City for “Commercial application of in vitro diagnostics for triple-negative breast cancer” by J-Pharma
Jan 2015 Started Phase 1 study of nanvuranlat (Development code: JPH203) in Japan
Jul 2017 Completed Phase 1 study of nanvuranlat (Development code: JPH203)
Nov 2018 Started Phase 2 study of nanvuranlat (Development code: JPH203) in Japan
Apr 2019 Concluded an agreement with Ohara Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for licensing and co-development of nanvuranlat
Apr 2022 Obtained Orphan Drug Designation from the U.S. FDA for nanvuranlat (Development code: JPH203) for the treatment of advanced biliary tract cancer
Dec 2022 Completed Phase 2 study of nanvuranlat (Development code: JPH203) in Japan
Oct 2023 Awarded Fast Forward Commercial Research funding program from National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) for the development of JPH034
Jun 2024 Awarded Drug Discovery Venture Ecosystem Enhancement Project from Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) for the development of JPH034
Sep 2024 Obtained U.S. FDA approval for the IND application to initiate clinical trials of nanvuranlat (Development code: JPH203) for cancer patients

Company name	J-Pharma Co.,Ltd.
Head office	8th Floor, VORT Hamamatsucho II, 1-10-11 Hamamatsucho, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0013, Japan TEL: 03-6432-4270 FAX: 03-6432-4271
Founded	December 26, 2005
Representative	Masuhiro Yoshitake (President & CEO)
Capital stock	80,000,000 yen (as of March 2025)
Accounting period	March 31
Business description	Research & Development of pharmaceutical drugs
Number of employees	17 (as of June 2025)
Subsidiary	J-PHARMA USA INC.

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Partner

Out-License

J-Pharma has entered into a license agreement with Ohara Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. under which Ohara Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. will file for approval and market our development compound nanvuranlat for the indication of advanced biliary tract cancer in Japan and Asia.

Ohara Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

In-License

J-Pharma has received exclusive patent licenses for JPH034, a compound developed by J-Pharma, from Osaka University and KNC Laboratories Co., Ltd.,. J-Pharma has also received a exclusive license to use patents held by Georgetown University for an amino acid transporter inhibitor for the treatment of inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system (including MS). Under these agreements, J-Pharma is proceeding with the development of JPH034.