Ehime, Japan, March 18th, 2025 – Optieum Biotechnologies Inc. (“Optieum”), a preclinical stage company dedicated to the discovery and development of innovative CAR-T cell therapies, is pleased to announce that it has been awarded up to $39M in non-dilutive grant funding under the “Strengthening Program for Pharmaceutical Startup Ecosystem” by the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED).
The grant will be used to support the development of OPTF01, Optieum’s lead CAR-T candidate targeting Fibroblast Activation Protein Alpha (FAPα) to an Investigational New Drug (IND) filing with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of glioblastoma (GBM).
“We are excited to announce that, OPTF01, has been selected by AMED for funding to accelerate its preclinical and clinical development.” said Shun Nishioka, CEO of Optieum Biotechnologies. “Combined with the continued support from our investors, this AMED grant positions us to rapidly advance OPTF01 toward the next clinical development milestones, and ultimately closer to providing a new treatment option for patients.”
Optieum received approval for this funding with support from Saisei Ventures, Keio Innovation Initiative, and ANRI as certified VCs. Through this grant, Optieum will be eligible to receive AMED grant funds equal to twice the investment from these certified VCs toward the continuing development of OPTF01, the company’s first clinical candidate in its expanding pipeline of next-generation CAR-T therapies.
For more information about AMED’s Strengthening Program for Pharmaceutical Startup Ecosystem, please visit: https://www.amed.go.jp/program/list/19/02/005.html (in Japanese)
Optieum Biotechnologies Inc. is a cutting-edge biotechnology company dedicated to engineering hope for patients through the development of next-generation CAR-T cell therapies. At the heart of Optieum’s innovation is its proprietary Eumbody System, a revolutionary platform that optimizes CAR constructs to unlock the full therapeutic potential of T cells by dynamically harmonizing CAR binding domains. This transformative platform has the potential to redefine CAR-T cell therapy, enabling the development of groundbreaking treatments for challenging diseases. For more information, visit www.optieumbio.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
Optieum Biotechnologies
Email: info@optieumbio.com
