SPARX : Mirai Creation Fund III (three) Invests in ProteoBridge, a Developer of high-density protein microarrays for autoantibody validation
June 29, 2022 at 09:22 pm EDT
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The following is an English version of the official Japanese announcement, which has been given to the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the media in Tokyo, Japan.
June 30, 2022
For Immediate Release
SPARX Group Co., Ltd.
President and Group CEO Shuhei Abe
(Code: 8739, TSE Prime Market)
Mirai Creation Fund III (three) Invests in ProteoBridge, a Developer of high-density
protein microarrays for autoantibody validation
-Taking another step toward wellness
by propagating the autoantibody test for evaluating overall health-
TOKYO-June 30, 2022-SPARX Group Co., Ltd. (SPARX; TSE Prime: 8739:) today announced that its Mirai Creation Fund III (three) -established in October 2021-has executed an investment (180 million JPY) in ProteoBridge Inc., a startup firm which provides solution to social and medical problems through its novel protein microarray. It detects14,000 human autoantibodies semi-quantitatively. ProteoBridge intends to utilize the raised capital to accelerate expansion of target diseases for A-Cube, a laboratory diagnostic system, and development of "Antibody Doc", a new optional examination of medical checkup.
Portfolio Company Outline
ProteoBridge, with the vision of "Build a Proteome Bridge toward tomorrow", is a biotech venture company established as a spin-out from National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Japan. HuPEX® protein array licensed exclusively from AIST contains 14,000 human proteins spotted under the non-dry conditions. Therefore, antigen-antibody reaction in human body can be mimicked on the surface of the array. This cutting edge technology allows, with small amount of blood, more accurate and more comprehensive autoantibody detection which have not been fully accomplished by any other methods before. On December 2021, ProteoBridge launched the A-CubeTM test kit for scleroderma and myositis, which enables to measure 43 autoantibodies or 65 different autoantigens all at once. Furthermore, ProteoBridge has discovered several disease biomarkers in the external research collaboration with academic medical research institutes and pharmaceutical companies. ProteoBridge contributes to tomorrow's healthier society by expanding the assays' target diseases, increasing processing efficiency and establishing personal autoantibody data bases.
■ Mirai Creation Funds I, II, and III Summaries
Mirai Creation Funds I, II, and III Summaries The Mirai Creation Fund I began operations in November 2015 with financing of JPY 13.5 billion from three companies: Toyota Motor Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and SPARX, the Fund's general partner. Ultimately, the Fund received contributions from 20 companies, including the above three. Casting intelligent technologies, robotics, and hydrogen- economy technologies as vital to the future, Fund I has invested in approximately 50 companies and projects-from the US, the UK, Israel, Singapore, and Japan-that possess innovations in these fields. In H2 2018, SPARX began managing the Mirai Creation Fund II, which targets the three existing Mirai Creation fields along with the two additional areas of electrification and new materials. In October 2021, SPARX launched the Mirai Creation Fund III with SPARX Asset Management Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of SPARX, acting as its fund manager, adding carbon neutrality to the five fields of the Mirai Creation Fund
As of May 31, 2022, the combined AUM for Funds I, II, and III were JPY 150.1 billion. Mirai Creation Fund investment track record:https://mirai.sparx.co.jp/en/investment /
For inquiries related to this release, contact: Public Relations, SPARX Group Co., Ltd.
Tel: +81-3-6711-9100 / Fax: +81-3-6711-9101 pr_media@sparxgroup.com
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Sparx Group Co. Ltd. published this content on 30 June 2022 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 30 June 2022 01:21:00 UTC.
SPARX Group Co., Ltd. is a Japan-based holding company mainly engaged in the asset management business. The Company is engaged in the asset management business for clients, including corporate pension annuities, government entities, private and trust banks and public pension funds; the provision of investment advisory services; the operation of mutual fund business, which includes the provision of various mutual funds to financial institutions and individual investors directly or through brokerage houses, banks and other intermediaries in Japan, Europe and the United States, as well as the securities business, including the provision of advisory services for investors. Through its subsidiaries, the Company is also engaged in the research and operation of foreign stocks, including Japanese, Korean and other Asian stocks.