SCIVAX’s mission is to enhance the value of science through social contributions that will lend to an enriched life for humans. Worldwide, an incalculable amount of money has been devoted to research and development which, in terms of research results, has borne relatively great fruits. Nevertheless, it is few among these results that have entered into the mainstream practical aspect of our lives by improving our societies. This separation between investigation and application is all the more evident in relation to so-called advanced achievements, proving how difficult it is to nurture innovative technologies within the frameworks of an existing institutional structure. SCIVAX, focusing on the problems intrinsic to the existing organizations which hamper the incubation of these innovative technologies, is thus developing new technologies through the creation of a totally new platform that enables the fusion of different technologies.

The 3-D cell cultivation technology on which SCIVAX especially focuses has been realized by such an interface between the ultra-fine processing technology of cutting-edge nano-technology, mechanical engineering, and medicine, molecular biology, cell engineering, or pharmaceutical science. The dissemination and use of the 3-D cell cultivation technology was initiated from the field of drug-discovery.

Medicine is still a science of probability despite the efforts of the past half-century to increase the certainty of medicine through scientific-statistical methods. The increasing reliance on such methods has also become the norm in drug development where such efforts have produced any number of excellent drugs which can save precious lives. However, in recent years, new drug development has stagnated along the way, and to achieve a breakthrough, not only research & development but such means as merger and acquisition of venture businesses have been attempted.

SCIVAX believes that the establishment of the in-vitro assay system, which is not unlike the living organism, is the most effective method to increase the probability factor in developing new drugs. We have performed various evaluations and have wrested results indicating that the 3-D cells cultivated under our method are drastically different from the cells cultivated by the conventional mono-layer cultivation method, having characteristics much closer to those of in-vivo cells. Especially the drug susceptibility tests using the clinical drugs have shown remarkable results. More promisingly, more unique systems including the floating system are being suggested in 3-D cell cultivation, and these have unusual characteristics on the gene expression and protein expression: This development also suggests that cells cultivated by our 3-D method are closer to the in-vivo state.

Hence the mission of this project: Establishing a search tool for new drug development around this 3-D cell-cultivation technology; clarifying the characteristics of the 3-D cells; and exploring the possibility of such fields as drug development and medical care where technology can make pragmatic contributions to our societies.

Satoru Tanaka
President
SCIVAX Corporation