Company Information
| Company Name | Metagen, Inc. |
| Founded | March 18, 2015 |
| Capital (including capital reserve) | 35,000,000 JPY |
| Correspondent Banks | Mizuho Bank, Mitsui Sumitomo Banking Corporation, Yamagata Bank, Tsuruoka Shinkin Bank, Japan Finance Corporation, Shonai Bank |
| Representative | President CEO Shinji Fukuda |
| Number of Employees | 26 |
| Board Members | Takuji Yamada, Yoshinori Mizuguchi, Shinnosuke Murakami |
| Auditor | Social Insurance & Labor Consultant Corporation, Japan Affairs Representative Kiichi Yamamoto – Specified Social Insurance & Labor consultant |
| Advisor (Chielf Health Officer) | Department of Gastroenterology, Juntendo Hospital, Juntendo University School of Medicine Associate Professor Dai Ishikawa, Ph.D. (Medicine) / Doctor |
| Business Advisor | President Director and Group CEO of Leave a Nest Co., Ltd. Yukihiro Maru, Ph.D. (Agriculture) |
| Consulting Doctor | Department of Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University Cancer Genome Informatics – Professor Dr. Shinichi Yachida, Ph.D. (Medicine) / Doctor |
| Special Advisot | Leave a Nest Co., Ltd. President and CCO Joe Inoue, Ph.D (Pharmacy) / Pharmacist Keio University Professor Masaru Tomita, Ph.D. (Medicine / Engineering / Policy and Media) |
| Group Companies | Metagen Therapeutics, Inc. President CEO Taku Nakahara, Ph.D. (Science) / MBA Metagen Singapore Pte. Ltd. President CEO Shinji Fukuda, Ph.D. (Agriculture) |
Access
［Headquarters / Tsuruoka Laboratory］
246-2 Mizukami, Kakuganji, Tsuruoka-shi, Yamagata 997-0052
About 5 minutes by car from JR Tsuruoka Station
About 20 minutes by car from Shonai Airport
See here for access details.
［Kawasaki Office / Laboratory］
3-103-9 Tonomachi, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa 210-0821
Take the bus from “Kawasaki Station” and get off at “King Sky Front” and walk for 3 minutes (Rinko Bus)
15 minutes on foot from “Kojima Nitta Station” (Keikyu Daishi Line)
See here for access details.
Board Members
Representative, President CEO
Shinji Fukuda
In 2006, completed a doctoral course in Agriculture at Meiji University Graduate School of Agriculture. After working as a special researcher in basic sciences at RIKEN, he became a specially appointed associate professor at the Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University from 2012, a specially appointed professor at the same from 2019, and a representative director of the Society for Intestinal Design from 2021, 2022. Since 2010, he has also been a specially appointed professor at the Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University. In 2015, he won the grand prize at the Bioscience Grand Prix for his business plan “A healthy society created from flights” and established Metagen Co., Ltd. He assumed the position of President and CEO. His specialty is intestinal design studies.
| 2003 | JSPS Research Fellow (DC1) |
| 2006 | Completed doctoral course at Graduate School of Agriculture, Meiji University, PhD (Agriculture) Research Associate, RIKEN Center for Genomic Sciences |
| 2007 | Special Postdoctoral Researcher, RIKEN Center for Allergy and Immunology |
| 2010 | Researcher, RIKEN Center for Allergy and Immunology |
| 2012 | Project Associate Professor, Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University |
| 2015 | PRESTO Researcher, Japan Science and Technology Agency (concurrent) |
| 2015〜 | President and CEO of Metagen Co., Ltd. |
| 2016〜 | Visiting Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba |
| 2017〜 | Group Leader, Kanagawa Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology |
| 2019〜 | Specially Appointed Professor, Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University Visiting Professor, Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology, University of Technology Malaysia Deputy Research Director, ERATO, Japan Science and Technology Agency |
| 2020〜 | Visiting Professor, Faculty of Horticulture, Chiba University |
| 2021〜 | Visiting Professor, Institute of Japanese and Chinese Medicine, University of Toyama Representative Director, Intestinal Design Society |
| 2022〜 | Specially Appointed Professor, Department of Microbiota Regeneration, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine |
Awards and Honors
| 2012 | Japan Bifidobacterium Center Research Encouragement Award |
| 2013 | Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Young Scientist Award |
| 2014 | Mishima Kaiun Academic Award Yamagata Prefecture Science and Technology Encouragement Award |
| 2015 | Bioscience Grand Prix Grand Prize National Institute of Science and Technology Policy, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology “Outstanding Contributions to Science and Technology 2015” |
| 2016 | Momofuku Ando Prize “Invention Discovery Encouragement Award” |
| 2017 | Bioindustry Encouragement Award |
Executive Vice President CTO
Takuji Yamada
In 2006, completed the doctoral course in Science at the Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University. After working as a research assistant at the Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University, a researcher at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, and a lecturer at the Graduate School of Life Science and Technology, Institute of Science Tokyo, he has been an associate professor at the Department of Life Science and Technology, School of Life Science and Technology, Institute of Science Tokyo since 2016. In 2015, he became Executive Vice President and CTO of Metagen, Inc. In 2020 he won the Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award for Science and Technology (Research Category). His specialty is bioinformatics.
| 2006 | Completed Doctoral program, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University Doctor of Science Specially Appointed Assistant Professor, Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University |
| 2007 | European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) Postdoctoral fellow |
| 2009 | EMBL Senior Technical Officer |
| 2012 | Lecturer, Graduate School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Institute of Science Tokyo |
| 2015 | PRESTO Researcher, Japan Science and Technology Agency (concurrent position) |
| 2015〜 | Vice President CTO, Metagen, Inc. |
| 2016〜 | Associate Professor, Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Institute of Science Tokyo |
Awards and Honors
| 2015 | Challenging Research Award, Institute of Science Tokyo |
| 2018 | Selected for “Star of Tokyo Institute of Technology” Support [STAR], 2008 |
| 2020 | The Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Prizes for Science and Technology (Research Category), 2020 |
Director CFO
Yoshinori Mizuguchi
In 2015, he co-founded Metagen, Inc. and became a director while studying at the Institute of Science Tokyo Graduate School of Life Science and Technology. In 2018, he completed a doctoral course at the same graduate school and a doctoral education course at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology/Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Program for Leading Graduate Schools, Institute of Science Tokyo. He has a Ph.D. (Engineering). After serving as COO and CSO of the company, he was appointed his current position. 2020 Temporary member of the Industrial Structure Council, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Since 2023, he has been a temporary member of the Science and Technology Council of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. His specialty is tissue engineering.
| 2015 | Director and COO, Metagen, Inc. |
| 2018 | Completed Graduate School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Institute of Science Tokyo, Ph.D Completed Doctoral Program in Information Bioscience and Biotechnology, Institute of Science Tokyo, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Leading Program for Doctoral Education Director and CSO, Metagen, Inc. |
| 2020 | Temporary member of Industrial Structure Council, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry |
| 2020〜 | Director and CFO, Metagen Inc |
| 2023〜 | Temporary member of Council for Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology |
Awards and Honors
| 2015 | EDGE INNOVATION CHALLENGE COMPETITION, GOLD AWARD |
Director COO/CIPO
Shinnosuke Murakami
In 2016, completed doctoral course at Keio University Graduate School of Media and Governance. She holds a Ph.D. (policy and media). She has been Chief Researcher at Metagen Co., Ltd. since 2016, Executive Officer since 2018, COO and CIPO (Chief Intellectual Property Officer) since 2022. From 2016 to 2023, she also served as a specially appointed assistant professor at the Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University. Her specialties are environmental microbiology and balneotherapy.
| 2013 | JSPS Research Fellow (DC1) |
| 2016 | Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University PhD (Policy and Media) Chief Researcher, Metagen Co., Ltd. |
| 2016～ | Project Assistant Professor, Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University |
| 2018〜 | Executive Officer COO, Metagen Inc. |
| 2022〜 | Director COO/CIPO of Metagen Co., Ltd. |
| 2023〜 | Researcher, Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University |
Awards and Honors
| 2013 | SFC STUDENT AWARD 2012 |
| 2014 | 4th High School Student Bio Summit in Tsuruoka Outstanding Research Leader Award |
| 2015 | The 9th Bacteriology Colosseum for Young Scientists Young Encouragement Award |
| 2018 | Research Encouragement Award of the Japanese Society of Onsen Climatology and Physical Medicine |
| 2024 | The 22nd Yamagata Science and Technology Encouragement Award |
Awards and Achievements
| 2023.01.31 | “The 110th Grant for New Technology Development (2nd round in 2022)” by Kiyoshi Ichimura New Technology Foundation, a public interest incorporated foundation, was adopted. |
| 2022.11.30 | Well-Aging Economic Forum “Well-being & Age-tech 2022 Award” Digital Minister Award |
| 2022.08.04 | Scrum Studio’s Global Open Innovation Program “Well-BeingX” Adopted |
| 2021.06.18 | The Independent Administrative Corporation for Small and Medium Business Foundation Preparation Organization Order and the third correction of the “Business Reconstruction Grant” for the second year |
| 2021.01.27 | Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Selected Companies for Acceleration Program |
| 2020.09.01 | Adopted by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) for the Support Project for Collaboration to Strengthen the Competitiveness of Commerce and Services (New Collaboration Support Project) |
| 2020.07.31 | Adopted for Yamagata Prefecture’s subsidy for high-level human resources support project |
| 2020.07.10 | Yamagata Prefecture subsidy for bio-related regional industrial traction project adopted |
| 2020.04.21 | Ranked 50th in the “Asia Pacific High-Growth Companies 2020” by Financial Times/Statista |
| 2020.03.18 | Established an overseas group company Metagen Singapore Pte. |
| 2020.01.17 | Established a group company Metagen Therapeutics |
| 2019.09.11 | Adopted by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) “Project to Promote the Development of Collaborative Domain Data Sharing and AI Systems for the Promotion of Connected Industries”. |
| 2019.08.23 | Adopted by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the “Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) SDGs Business Support Project” project feasibility study (SME support type) |
| 2019.08.08 | JPO IP Acceleration Program “IPAS2019” Recognized as a Recipient Company for the First Phase of Support |
| 2019.07.09 | Shonai Regional Industry Promotion Center, Grant Program for Supporting Commercialization of Joint Research Seeds (Sales Channel Development Type) Adopted |
| 2019.06.28 | Adopted for Yamagata Prefecture’s subsidy for high-level human resources support project |
| 2019.06.24 | Selected as a “J-Startup” by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry |
| 2019.02.02 | Won the 1st Medtec Grand Prix KOBE DNP Award |
| 2018.09.18 | Adopted for New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) “AI System Joint Development Support Project” |
| 2018.08.16 | Adopted for Yamagata Prefecture Highly Skilled Human Resources Support Project Subsidy |
| 2018.08.06 | Adopted for Yamagata Prefecture Super Total Support Project subsidy for small and medium-sized enterprises (support project for research and development, etc.) |
| 2018.06.26 | Adopted for Shonai Regional Industry Promotion Center, Grant for Commercialization Support Project for Joint Research Seeds (Sales Channel Development Type) |
| 2017.12.22 | Selected as a “regional future driving company” by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry |
| 2017.09.07 | Winner of ICC Partners “ICC Conference KYOTO 2017 Catapult Grand Prix |
| 2017.08.10 | Adopted for Yamagata Prefecture SME Super Total Support Project Subsidy (R&D Support Project) |
| 2017.07.11 | Adopted for Shonai Regional Industry Promotion Center’s subsidy project to support commercialization of joint research seeds (employment promotion type) |
| 2017.03.03 | Awarded Real Tech Venture of the Year 2017 (startup category) |
| 2016.10.12 | Awarded the Yamagata Creation Business Plan Contest (Business Plan Category) Grand Prize |
| 2016.06.22 | Adopted for the Shonai Regional Industry Promotion Center’s Collaborative Research Seeds Commercialization Support Grant Program (Employment Promotion Type) |
| 2016.06.01 | Adopted for the Shonai Regional Industry Promotion Center’s Collaborative Research Seeds Commercialization Support Grant Program (Commercialization Promotion Type) |
| 2015.08.01 | Adopted as Grant for Yamagata Regional Industry Support Fund Project, Problem-Solving Technology Development Support Project |
| 2015.06.25 | Approved as Tokyo Tech Venture |
| 2015.06.01 | Adopted as a grant project for the Shonai Regional Industry Promotion Center’s joint research seeds commercialization support project (seeds exploration type) |
| 2015.05.21 | Adopted for the subsidy for promoting business startups and second startups in the supplementary budget for 2014 |
| 2015.01.25 | Awarded the Grand Prize in the Bioscience Grand Prix |