Fuminori Yoshida remarks

It all started with a will

The moment I decided to start SymBio Pharmaceuticals, I came up with the phrase "Symbiosis"*1) (creating together, living together) as if it had fallen from the sky. Just like when you throw a stone into a pond, ripples Symbiosis, and the circle grows larger over time, becoming more and more layered and rushing to the shore. Therefore, the two of them touched the hearts of even more people, resonated with the hearts of many people, and decided to participate in the project. Our company's assets are the sum total of the circle of people born from this single aspiration, and the driving force of this aspiration that will continue to resonate with us toward the future.

The development of pharmaceuticals has a social capital aspect, and those of us involved in drug development must keep this in mind at all times. One thing that pharmaceutical companies tend to lose sight of as they expand their scale is the need to cater to smaller markets. Small markets in the pharmaceutical industry are therapeutic areas with small numbers of patients, which SymBio calls "Underserved Therapeutic Areas". If someone does not make the effort to fill this Underserved Therapeutic Areas void, it will continue to grow and not shrink. The people who work at our company are well aware that this is an extremely difficult business, but as people in the pharmaceutical industry, they see it as a job that someone has to do, and they see it as fulfilling the corporate mission by overlapping their own professional lives with the corporate mission. We all want the knowledge and skills we acquire to benefit society, to benefit others, and to be given back, and at SymBio, we have a place for that. This is also the reason why the retirement age has been set at 72 since the company's inception. As a result, if they can shine a light on Underserved Therapeutic Areas, their own professional lives will be fulfilled.

In January 2005, I left Amgen after 12 years of service, and two months later, on March 25, I founded the company. There were six founding members, and the members of the SAB (Scientific Advisory Board) had already been decided, and the composition of the board of directors had already been decided. In early April, he visited several venture companies in the United States and started negotiations in order to acquire development items that could be new drug candidates. At the same time, we visited venture capital companies with the goal of raising 600 to 700 million yen as start-up funds. It wasn't even the content of the members. Ultimately, many venture capitalists turned down funding on the spot because there was nothing to evaluate. Fortunately, three European and American bio-venture companies responded to the negotiations, narrowed down the negotiations to three products, and signed a license agreement in December. On the other hand, business managers such as Daiichi Pharmaceutical, EPS, and Medical and Biological Research Laboratories strongly resonated with SymBio 's aspirations and decided to invest, and were able to raise 700 million yen as founding capital. Then, three companies provided 300 million yen in funding from venture capital, even though they had no products to develop. By the end of the year, we had 12 employees, 1 product in development, and a start-up capital of 1 billion yen. Currently, there are 42 employees, 2 development items, and 2.96 billion yen in funds procured. Phase 3 trials are already underway in the U.S. for both of SymBio 's products under development, and bendamustine, which is being developed for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in Japan, has already completed phase 1 trials and is preparing for final clinical trials. rice field. New drug application in Japan is scheduled for 2010, and the launch is scheduled for 2011.

SymBio 's dream is to become a First in Class and Best in Class specialty pharmaceutical company specializing in oncology and hematology in the Asia-Pacific region. To that end, we would like to pursue the aspiration of "Symbiosis", which is the source of our company, build a sustainable business model, and steadily implement business strategies.

Representative Director President and CEO
Fuminori Yoshida

*1) “Symbiosis”: For details, please see “SymBio ’s Dream”.
Pharmacia Vol.43 Venture Dayori November 2007 *Pharmacia is the journal of the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan.