Reborna Biosciences, Inc. was established in 2018 as a biotech start-up to create drugs to meet high unmet medical needs such as drugs for the treatment of rare genetic diseases. There are said to be 9,000 or more rare diseases today, of which many are genetic diseases that develop with a certain probability from genes inherited from the parents. It is therefore not only the patients, but also their parents who are battling the disease.

The company name “Reborna” was created by combining “reborn” with “RNA”, the drug discovery target. Reborna was so named out of a desire to provide therapeutic drugs that improve the lives of patients suffering from rare genetic diseases and their families to such an extent that it is as though they have been reborn.

Research and development on drugs in the company’s pipeline is being conducted for drugs for oral administration. This is intended to reduce as much as possible the burden on patients as they battle their disease for an extended period of time. By making maximum use of our drug discovery technology platforms we continue to take on the challenge of making a contribution to medical society by undertaking the development of therapeutic drugs for diseases with high unmet medical needs.

Koji Fuji – CEO/COO

Koji Fuji, Ph.D.
Founder, Representative Director and CEO/COO

Dr. Fuji is the founder of Reborna Biosciences and has served as the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Reborna since the company was formed in 2018 in a carve-out transaction from Takeda Pharmaceutical Company. Dr. Fuji started Reborna with the mission of creating drugs to help patients suffering from genetic rare diseases and their families. Under Dr. Fuji’s leadership, Reborna continues to expand its pipeline and strengthen its business globally via the unique drug discovery platform Dr. Fuji has developed. While at Takeda, Dr. Fuji cultivated extensive drug discovery experience across a range of therapeutics areas, including cardiovascular, metabolic, neurological and inflammation diseases. Dr. Fuji received his Ph.D. in Science at the Nara Institute of Science and Technology in 2005.

Yukimi Oda
Director and CFO

Ms. Oda joined Reborna in January 2020, passionate about the company’s founding philosophy of “contributing to society through drug discovery.” At Reborna, she leads the company’s financial and business strategy and is a key contributor to its continued growth. Ms. Oda has extensive experience in the equity investment business, working on equity research in various roles at CS First Boston, Salomon Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley, where she was an Executive Director. Ms. Oda then moved to the buy side, joining Arena Capital Management as a founding member in 2013 and investing in various industries, including healthcare, at LIM Advisors until 2018. Ms. Oda holds a B.A. from Sophia University.

Yutaro Kasai
Outside Director

Mr. Kasai started his career at Goldman Sachs in 2005, where he engaged in M&A advisory services and IPO support in the Investment Banking Division. After his time at Bain Capital and Unison Capital, where he was involved in growth company investments and hands-on support, he established a Venture Capital firm Angel Bridge Inc. in 2015. He serves as an Outside Director of various companies such as Heartseed Inc. and Varinos Inc., which are part of the portfolio of Angel Bridge. He received a Master’s Degree from the Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Tokyo in Genetic Engineering and an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Shunsuke Watanabe
Statutory Auditor

Mr. Watanabe began his career at the Tokyo office of Clifford Chance LLP, where he handled a wide range of corporate legal matters for foreign companies, including cross-border transactions, advice on regulatory matters, corporate affairs, litigation, and other disputes.　In 2014, he joined AZX Professionals Group, where he is presently a partner. Mr. Watanabe advises both startups and public companies on Japanese law issues across a variety of industries and provides support for startups established by foreign entrepreneurs. He currently serves as an outside director (and member of the Audit Committee) of Zetton Inc. and as an outside statutory auditor of 47 Holdings Inc. Mr. Watanabe holds a J.D. from Keio University Law School.

Yasushi Shingai
Advisor

Mr. Shingai was formerly an Executive Vice President and Deputy CEO of Japan Tobacco Inc. (hereinafter “JT”) During his tenure at JT, as President of JT America Inc., Mr. Shingai established a series of partnerships with U.S. biotech start-ups and pharmaceutical companies that led to the development of an anti-HIV drug. He later served as the CFO of JT, Deputy CEO and CFO of JT International, and Representative Director, Executive Vice President and Deputy CEO of JT until his retirement in 2018. In 2007, as Deputy CEO of JT International, he successfully made an acquisition and integrated Gallaher Group Plc., a UK-based global tobacco company, by acquiring it for 2.25 trillion yen, and has a proven track record in large-scale overseas M&A. In 2011, he was appointed Representative Director and Executive Vice President of JT. He has also served as an outside director of Recruit Holdings CO., Ltd. Mr. Shingai has been serving as an outside director of Asahi Group Holdings, Inc. and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. since 2018, and Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc. since 2019. He also focuses on supporting startup companies as an outside director of AI startups ExaWizards Inc. and Open8 Inc., and as an advisor to the venture capital firm ANRI. Mr. Shingai received a B.E. and a M.E. in Electronic Engineering from Kyoto University.