Update on Japan progress

Dear Cynata Supporter

For your interest I am pleased to provide a brief update following Cynata’s meetings in Japan last week, including participating in the annual congress of the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine.

Cynata had been invited to this congress to share the podium with Fujifilm and give a keynote symposium on the therapeutic use of iPSC-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Our VP of Product Development, Dr Kelly, provided a 30 minute overview of Cynata’s Cymerus™ technology and the GvHD clinical trial to an audience of about 85, comprised of pharmaceutical and biotech industry personnel, journalists and academics. Given Cynata’s strategic alliance with Fujifilm, the Japanese Government’s many policy initiatives to encourage the development and commercialisation of stem cell medicines and the fact that the ground-breaking development of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) resulted in a Nobel Prize for a Japanese scientist, there is enormous interest in Japan in what Cynata is up to.

Following our presentation at the congress we were interviewed by journalists from all the major Japanese print news media: Yomiuri Shimbun (daily circulation 12 million), Nikkei Shimbun (circulation 3 million+) and the Nikkei Biotechnology & Business in a lengthy press conference. We await further information about the publication of articles arising from the press conference.

Our visit to Japan also provided an opportunity to meet with Fujifilm for the first time since we completed the strategic alliance transaction in January. Fujifilm continues to forge ahead with its strategy around stem cell-based medicine and the company is very content with recent progress at Cynata, particularly the further evidence we are collecting about the activity of our Cymerus MSCs in various disease models. The relevant data provides strong support for further potential targets beyond GvHD, eg asthma and heart attack.

Yours sincerely

Ross Macdonald