DNAVEC

DNAVEC Corporation is a private venture company originating as a Japanese national project supported by the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare. DNAVEC Research Inc., the predecessor of DNAVEC Corporation, successfully developed an innovative vectors system, which is expected to become an indispensable device for gene therapy and gene vaccines. Sendai virus vector is one such vector. Functioning as RNA, not DNA, this vector has the benefit of not damaging the cell's chromosome. The company has obtained a number of international patents on these vectors and their use. DNAVEC is currently promoting multiple joint research and development programs with national and global research institutes and pharmaceutical companies. Kyushu University Hospital concluded a Phase I/IIa clinical trial on the gene therapy research for severe ischemic limbs using the Sendai virus vector in 2010, confirming the safety and the possible effectiveness of this therapy. Vaccines against other infectious diseases are also under development. In the field of cell therapy and regenerative medicine, we have developed a system to administer pluripotent stem cells (iPS) efficiently, which is marketed as CytoTune™-iPS domestically and globally, and applied widely in drug development. As Japan's first viral vector for gene therapy, the Sendai virus vector also has great potential for application in cell engineering, cell therapy and regenerative medicine.