Best Life Sciences Companies in Japan
The 485 best Life Sciences companies in Japan in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: PHC Holdings.
Japan's Life Sciences sector is moving faster than the funding numbers alone suggest, and this directory ranks 485 tracked companies by disclosed equity funding and recent momentum to help you find where the action is. Total disclosed capital sits at $2.1B across the cohort, with zero unicorns so far, which tells you something real: this is still a formation-stage market, dense with early bets and genuine upside. Sound Wave Innovation and SONIRE Therapeutics each top the leaderboard at $17M raised, with Cykinso close behind at $16M. Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Nissay Capital, and SBI Investment are the names showing up most reliably at the cap table. The global life sciences market was pegged at roughly $167.8B with a 10.2% CAGR, and Japan's aging population is one of the cleaner demand signals feeding that curve domestically.
What I find notable this quarter is the appetite spreading beyond borders. A TPG-backed IPO push in life sciences and an API expansion via acquisition both signal that strategic capital is hunting for scale across Asia. Japan's own deal flow reflects that same logic, just earlier in the cycle. Regulatory pathways here remain methodical, which slows exits but also filters for founders building durable science.
- Morgan Stanley Ups the Ante on These 2 Life Science Tool Stocks
Our analysis of 576 Life Sciences companies
$91.7b in tracked funding; 70% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.
Ranked: Best Life Sciences companies in Japan
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Stage | Employees | Founder | Tech stack | Patents & IP focus | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kamui Pharma Developer of probiotic medicines for gastrointestinal diseases | $130M | 46 mo ago | Series B | — | Ogawa Naoki President & CEO | — | — | — |
| 2 | ThinkCyte Developer of cell sorting and single cell profiling platforms | $83M | 21 mo ago | Series C | 33 | Ryoichi Horisaki Co-Founder | WordPressMySQLPHP+28 | 95 patents Advanced flow cytometry and AI-driven cellular sample analysis technologies. | 3 launchs |
| 3 | Heartseed Developer of myocardial regenerative medicine for treating heart diseases | $77M | 36 mo ago | Public | 12 | Keiichi Fukuda Founder & CEO | YouTubeBootstrapApache HTTP Server+12 | 71 patents Stem cell-derived cardiomyocyte production, purification, and assessment for cardiac regenerative therapies | 1 partnership |
| 4 | WHILL Developer of wheelchairs for orthopedic support | $62M | 24 mo ago | Series D | 300 | Satoshi Sugie Co-Founder & CEO | WordPress Block EditorCart FunctionalityWooCommerce+46 | 103 patents Advanced electric wheelchair chassis and control systems for personal mobility | — |
| 5 | Renalys Developer of therapeutics for the treatment of renal diseases | $38M | 23 mo ago | Acquired | — | Takeshi Takahashi Co-Founder | — | — | — |
| 6 | Aillis AI enabled device for influenza diagnosis | $33M | 18 mo ago | Series D | 31 | Hiroaki Kato Co-Founder & CSO | Apple iCloud MailGoogle WorkspaceNode.js+22 | 62 patents Medical imaging hardware and AI-driven image processing, plus antiviral pharmaceutical formulations. | — |
| 7 | Regenfro Co Developer of therapeutics to treat renal diseases | $29M | 20 mo ago | Series B | — | Kenji Osafune Founder | WordPressMySQLPHP+9 | — | — |
| 8 | Orizuru Therapeutics Developer of stem-cell-derived organoid models for drug discovery | $22M | 27 mo ago | Series B | 60 | Kenji Nonaka CEO | WordPressApple iCloud MailMicrosoft 365+12 | 98 patents Regenerative cell therapies and tissue-engineered constructs for cardiac and stem cell applications | — |
| 9 | Sound Wave Innovation Medical devices and therapeutic platforms using sound waves | $17M | 1 mo ago | Series C | 4 | Hiroaki Shimokawa Founder | WordPressApple iCloud MailGoogle Workspace+17 | 18 patents Ultrasonic medical therapy devices and dementia treatment systems using acoustic stimulation. | — |
| 10 | SONIRE Therapeutics Developer of high intensity focused ultrasound treatment systems | $17M | 2 mo ago | Series B | 17 | Tohru Satoh Founder & CEO & President | WordPressMySQLPHP+12 | 59 patents High‑intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapy devices and integrated ultrasound imaging systems | — |
| 11 | Cykinso Direct-to-consumer tests for intestinal microbiome profiling | $16M | 1 mo ago | Series D | 15 | — | STUDIOApple iCloud MailGoogle Workspace+15 | 6 patents AI-driven pet nutrition recommendation and gastrointestinal health diagnostic technologies | — |
| 12 | NBMedical Developer of medical devices targeting neurovascular disease using digital transformation technology | $14M | 21 mo ago | Series B | — | Kazuya Shobayashi CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+11 | — | — |
| 13 | Metagen Therapeutics Developer of therapeutics based on human gut microbiome | $14M | 5 mo ago | Series B | 5 | Shinji Fukuda Co-Founder & Senior Scientific Advisor | STUDIOApple iCloud MailMicrosoft 365+14 | 6 patents Patents concentrated in health & consumer products | 1 job opening |
| 14 | Medmain Provider of AI-based analysis software for pathology image diagnosis | $13M | 13 mo ago | Series A | — | Osamu Iizuka Founder & CEO | Node.jsYouTubeNext.js+14 | — | — |
| 15 | Gaia Biomedicine Provider of regenerative medicine for treating cancer | $13M | 11 mo ago | Series D | — | Yoshikazu Yoneman Founder | WordPressMySQLPHP+15 | 111 patents Engineered NK cell immunotherapies and membrane-anchored cytokine delivery platforms | — |
| 16 | B dot Medical Developer of proton beam therapeutic devices for the treatment of cancer | $13M | 8 mo ago | Series B | 58 | Takuji Furukawa President & CEO | — | 65 patents Advanced charged particle therapy delivery and patient transport systems | 1 award |
| 17 | Time Therapeutics Developer of therapeutics for neurological disorders | $13M | 23 mo ago | Series B | — | Toshifumi Watanabe CEO & President | — | — | — |
| 18 | Restore Vision Developer of therapeutics drugs for eye diseases | $12M | 2 mo ago | Series A | 4 | Yusaku Katata Co-Founder & CEO | core-jsSwiperGoogle Font API+4 | 18 patents Optogenetic gene therapies and light‑responsive opsins for retinal disease treatment | — |
| 19 | Craif Developer of a device for cancer detection | $11M | 13 mo ago | Series C | 12 | Takao Yasui Co-Founder | microCMSApple iCloud MailGoogle Workspace+15 | 48 patents Microfluidic bioseparation and molecular diagnostics for biomarkers and genetic disease testing | 1 expansion |
| 20 | BionicM Developer of prosthetic to assist knee and ankle movements | $11M | 20 mo ago | Series A | 14 | Sunny Sun Founder & CEO | Google MapsElement UIVue.js+8 | 16 patents Advanced powered prosthetic limbs with adaptive control and joint actuation systems. | — |
| 21 | Celaid Therapeutics Developer of cell therapies for the treatment of blood cancer | $10M | 8 mo ago | Series B | 8 | Masatoshi Sakurai Co-Founder | — | 7 patents Cell cryopreservation media and stem cell culture formulations for therapeutic applications | — |
| 22 | Dioseve Inc Developer of iPS cell-derived egg production technology for infertility treatment | $10M | 23 mo ago | Series A | 6 | Kaz Kishida CEO | WordPress Block EditorWordPressPlesk+16 | 10 patents In vitro generation and maturation of human oocytes for reproductive biotechnology | — |
| 23 | Feliqs Developer of therapuetics for ophthalmic, neurological, and neonatal diseases | $9M | 11 mo ago | Series A | — | Ken-ichi Yamada Co-Founder & CSO | — | 5 patents Synthesis and use of heterocyclic antioxidant compounds for oxidation prevention | — |
| 24 | Optieum Biotechnologies Developer of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies for cancer | $8M | 17 mo ago | Series A | 4 | Toshiki Ochi Co-Founder | — | 2 patents Engineered CAR-T cells and therapeutic antibodies for cancer immunotherapy targeting specific antigens | — |
| 25 | Gra And Green Developer of genome editing technologies and advanced breeding for crops | $8M | 23 mo ago | Series C | 37 | — | Wix eCommerceWixSentry+14 | 20 patents Plant genome editing and promoter engineering using site-specific nucleases. | — |
| 26 | Global Vascular Developer of drug eluting stent delivery system for lower limb artery disease | $8M | 11 mo ago | Series B | — | Shunto Maegawa Co-Founder | — | 19 patents Advanced metal alloys and manufacturing for vascular stents and catheter devices | — |
| 27 | Neusignal Therapeutics Developer of therapeutics for neurological disorders | $7M | 16 mo ago | Series A | 4 | Yasuaki Sakata CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+8 | 3 patents Antiviral drug candidates using adamantane‑based small‑molecule therapeutics. | — |
| 28 | Alpha Fusion Developer of radiopharmaceuticals for cancer treatment | $7M | 20 mo ago | Series B | — | Nao Fujioka CEO | Radix UITailwind CSSshadcn/ui+10 | — | — |
| 29 | Link Therapeutics Developer of therapeutics for gastroenteric diseases | $6M | 10 mo ago | Series B | — | Yoshiko Abe Co-Founder & CEO | lit-htmllit-elementClosure Library+3 | 4 patents Patents concentrated in health & consumer products | — |
| 30 | Rhelixa Provider of integrated genomic analysis platform | $6M | 21 mo ago | Series B | 56 | — | WordPressMySQLPHP+13 | 2 patents Personalized biological age assessment using nucleic‑acid biomarkers and related data generation tools | — |
| 31 | iHeart Experts in regenerative medicine | $5M | 9 mo ago | Series D | 10 | — | NginxGoogle Font APISakura Internet+3 | — | — |
| 32 | KORTUC Developer of radiosensitizer for cancer therapy | $5M | 11 mo ago | Series B | 5 | Kazuyuki Matsuda CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+12 | 104 patents Stable hydrogen peroxide prefilled syringes for medical/oncology applications | — |
| 33 | LinqMed Developer of radiopharmaceuticals for cancer treatment | $5M | 13 mo ago | Series B | — | Yukie Yoshii CEO | — | — | — |
| 34 | KAICO Manufacturer of portfolio of proteins and other biological cytokines and enzymes | $4M | 14 mo ago | Series B | 10 | Kenta Yamato CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+17 | 17 patents Oral vaccine formulations for mucosal immunization and delivery | — |
| 35 | CoreTissue BioEngineering Developer of implantable medical devices derived from living tissues | $4M | 7 mo ago | Series A | 3 | — | YouTubeNginxGoogle Font API+7 | 5 patents Biopreservation containers for tissue storage and cell isolation/removal technologies | — |
| 36 | Scohia Pharma Developing small molecule therapies for renal, metabolic and cardiovascular diseases | $4M | 20 mo ago | Series A | — | Yoichi Okumura CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+9 | 64 patents Peptide therapeutics targeting melanocortin-2 receptor antagonism and growth‑hormone secretion. | — |
| 37 | Synplogen Developer of technology for DNA synthesis | $4M | 16 mo ago | Series D | — | Junichi Sugahara CEO | — | 62 patents Engineered nucleic acid vectors and plasmids for enhanced protein expression and production | — |
| 38 | EADERM Developer of novel treatments for hair loss and rare diseases | $4M | 12 mo ago | Series A | — | Nobuhiro Ando Founder & CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+4 | 5 patents Dermatological and ophthalmic therapeutics: hair loss, hair growth, dry‑eye agents, aromatic ketone production. | — |
| 39 | Cardio Intelligence AI-based medical devices for diagnosis and treatment of heart diseases | $3M | 3 mo ago | Series B | — | Yuichi Tamura CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+14 | 31 patents AI-driven electrocardiogram signal analysis and diagnostic decision support software | — |
| 40 | GEXVal Developer of small molecule based therapeutics for the treatment of orphan and intractable diseases | $3M | 17 mo ago | Series C | 8 | — | — | 13 patents Therapeutic agents for bone diseases and gene expression‑modulating pharmaceuticals | — |
| 41 | Innovacell Developer of autologous cell therapies for the treatment of incontinence-related indications | $3M | 13 mo ago | Public | 20 | Rainer Marksteiner Co-Founder & Managing Directors | — | — | — |
| 42 | Gel Coat Biomaterials Developer of hydrogel technology related to biomaterials and medical applications | $3M | 1 mo ago | Seed | — | Shin Yoshida Co-Founder & CEO | — | — | — |
| 43 | Reborna Biosciences Developer of RNA-based drugs to treat rare genetic diseases | $2M | 10 mo ago | Series A | 6 | Koji Fuji Representative Director | WordPressMySQLPHP+8 | 26 patents Small‑molecule SMN2 splicing modulators for treating spinal muscular atrophy | — |
| 44 | Tokiwa Bio Developer of gene-cell therapies for cancer and chronic diseases | $1M | 7 mo ago | Series B | 10 | — | WordPressMySQLPHP+8 | — | — |
| 45 | Fermelanta Provider of a biotech company that uses microbial fermentation to produce plant-based chemicals, including… | $1M | 9 mo ago | Series A | — | Hiromichi Minami Co-Founder & CSO | STUDIOFirebaseNode.js+10 | — | 3 awards |
| 46 | Light Touch Technology Developer of non-invasive blood glucose sensor utilizing advanced laser technology | $1M | 1 mo ago | Series B | — | Koichi Yamakawa CEO | WixSentryBootstrap+10 | 32 patents In vivo optical biosensing for blood analyte quantification and tissue identification | — |
| 47 | Immunorock Developer of immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases | $1M | 6 mo ago | Seed | — | Toshiro Shirakawa CEO | — | — | — |
| 48 | Liquid Mine Developer of monitoring test system for early detection of leukemia recurrence | $768K | 12 mo ago | Series A | 4 | Tomoka Kishimoto CEO | — | — | — |
| 49 | AiRato AI-powered radiation therapy platform for cancer treatment | $533K | 7 mo ago | Seed | — | Yuto Kimura Co-Founder & Co-CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+26 | — | — |
| 50 | ORTHOREBIRTH Cottony type synthetic bone void filling material | $195K | 7 mo ago | Series A | 5 | Yasutoshi Nishikawa CEO & President | WordPressMySQLPHP+7 | 108 patents Electrospun biodegradable fiber scaffolds for bone regeneration and cell culture substrates. | — |
Top 12 Life Sciences companies in Japan
#1
Series C · Chuo City, Tokyo · founded 2020 · 4 employees$17Mraised▾
Medical devices and therapeutic platforms using sound waves. It is a medical device startup that aims to implement low-invasive therapeutic platform technology.
- May 2026Series C$17M
#2
Series B · Tokyo, Tokyo · founded 2020 · 17 employees$17Mraised▾
Developer of high intensity focused ultrasound treatment systems. The companys system uses cavitation bubbles to enhance treatment efficacy and visualize the treatment process using heating systems. It offers treatment of pancreatic cancer using clinical trial assessing methods. It involves treating disease with high-energy ultrasound waves on a targeted area to destroy the cancer cells.
- Apr 2026Series B$18M
- Nov 2022Series B$17M
- Jun 2021Series A$4.8M
#3
Series D · Shibuya, Tokyo · founded 2014 · 15 employees$15.7Mraised▾
Direct-to-consumer tests for intestinal microbiome profiling. Its flagship product Mykinso uses next-generation sequencing and proprietary bioinformatics for metagenomic profiling of the customer's stool sample. Users can purchase the fecal sample kit, register it online and mail the sample to the company. In addition, they are encouraged to fill in a lifestyle-related questionnaire that Cykinso plans to use in future research. Results can be viewed on the company website or the accompanying app.
- Apr 2026Series D—
- Aug 2024Series D$7.6M
- Jul 2023Series D$5.7M
- Dec 2016Series A$2.3M
#4
Series A · Shinjuku City, Tokyo · founded 2016 · 4 employees$11.9Mraised▾
Developer of therapeutics drugs for eye diseases. The company is developing a regenerative gene therapy drug that is injected into the eyeball and a hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) inhibitor to treat retina-related diseases. The company has developed a pipeline for age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and retinitis pigmentosa.
- Apr 2026Series A$8.2M
- Dec 2023Series A—
- Jun 2023Series A$9.3M
- Feb 2022Seed$2.6M
#5
Series B · Tokyo, Tokyo · founded 2020 · 5 employees$13.8Mraised▾
Developer of therapeutics based on human gut microbiome. It has a GMP-compliant manufacturing platform for fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) therapies that transfers healthy gut bacteria into patients to treat diseases such as cancer, ulcerative colitis, parkinson’s disease, and immune-related diseases.
- Jan 2026Series B$6.4M
- Sep 2025Series B$5.5M
- Jul 2025Series B$10.2M
- Jun 2023Series A$1.5M
#6
Seed · Chiyoda City, Tokyo · founded 2024$2.6Mraised▾
Developer of hydrogel technology related to biomaterials and medical applications. The company specializes in developing bio-materials using Ameba Hydrogel technology for environmental, chemical, and medical applications based on life science and bioengineering.
- Apr 2026Seed$1.3M
- Feb 2024Seed$1.3M
#7
Series B · Minato City, Tokyo · founded 2019$3.2Mraised▾
AI-based medical devices for diagnosis and treatment of heart diseases. The company has developed an automated analysis system that assists healthcare professionals in clinical decision support and treatment. The device diagnoses the heart conditions by analyzing the ECG waveforms and creating a model using deep learning techniques.
- Mar 2026Series B—
- Nov 2025Series B—
- Mar 2024Series A—
- Aug 2022Series A$3.2M
#8
Series B · Edogawa City, Tokyo · founded 2017 · 58 employees$13.1Mraised▾
Developer of proton beam therapeutic devices for the treatment of cancer. The company is involved in the development of an ultra-small proton beam cancer treatment device that uses a beam of protons to deliver radiation directly to the tumor cell. It is a cancer-killing machine that can target a patient's tumor with a sub-millimeter precision while sparing nearby healthy tissues and minimizing side effects.
- Oct 2025Series B$8.8M
- Jun 2022Series A$13.1M
#9
Series B · Osaka, Osaka · founded 2017$1.1Mraised▾
Developer of non-invasive blood glucose sensor utilizing advanced laser technology. The company focuses on creating a needle-free sensor for individuals with diabetes. This technology aims to eliminate the need for blood extraction. It develops medical devices and wearable devices for healthcare applications.
- May 2026Conventional Debt—
- May 2026Series B$3.2M
- Feb 2022Series A$871.6K
- Jul 2021Seed$1.1M
#10
Series B · Bunkyo, Tokyo · founded 2020 · 8 employees$10.2Mraised▾
Developer of cell therapies for the treatment of blood cancer. The company is developing hematopoietic stem cell therapy by using amplification technology for the treatment of blood cancers such as leukemia, malignant lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and intractable blood diseases such as aplastic anemia.
- Oct 2025Series B$7.2M
- May 2024Series A$3M
#11
Series C · Bunkyo, Tokyo · founded 2016 · 33 employees$83.2Mraised▾
Developer of cell sorting and single cell profiling platforms. The business provides tools for cell therapy, disease profiling, and drug discovery applications. The platforms combine fluorescence flow cytometry with morphological profiling and artificial intelligence. The business also offers related consumables and instrument services.
- Aug 2024Series C$14.9M
- Nov 2023Series C$24M
- Nov 2023Grant (prize money)—
- May 2021Series B$26M
#12
Series D · Fukuoka, Fukuoka · founded 2015$13.2Mraised▾
GAIA Biomed provides regenerative medicine for treating cancer. It develops a new group of cell products (products such as regenerative medicine) for the treatment of cancer.
- Jul 2025Series D$13.2M
Funding & investor landscape
Notable founders
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Life Sciences coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
How research on Biotechnology is moving in Japan
A read on the academic research around Biotechnology — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 1,059 Japan-affiliated papers.
- The University of Tokyo76
- Kyoto University65
- Hokkaido University47
- Tohoku University40
- Korea University36
- Gene5→34
- Antibody1→17
- Transcription (linguistics)1→16
- Cell culture1→14
- Transcription factor3→16
- Gene4→27
- Downregulation and upregulation2→21
- Cell culture1→12
- Immune system1→12
- Transcriptome1→11
- Antibiotic resistance2→4
Where biotechnology is researched across Japan
Location clusters by institution affiliation — each city's volume, stance tone, and a quick read on its hot topic, what's advancing, the opening opportunity, and the main concern.
Who's filing biotechnology patents in Japan
Japan biotechnology patent filing is accelerating — 64,298 filings from 8,000 assignees (2016–2025), led by Chugai Pharmaceutical, Ajinomoto KK, Daiichi Sankyo; annual filings 5582→6516.
- Chugai Pharmaceutical6264
- Ajinomoto KK4113
- Daiichi Sankyo3212
- UNIV Kyoto2857
- Toray Industries2748
- UNIV Osaka2720
- Takeda Pharmaceuticals2641
- UNIV Tokyo2515
Common questions
Rohit lives in the feed. He covers what's moving right now — the funding rounds, launches and shifts breaking across the trade press — and ties them back to where the sector is heading.