IHV and Bioniz work in very close collaboration. One of our founders, Dr. Yutaka Tagaya, Bioniz’s CSO is a faculty member at IHV. IHV’s director, Dr. Bob Gallo, is a world class researcher and member of the National Academy of Sciences, as well as a member of Bioniz’s Scientific Advisory Board, as is Dr. Wuyuan Lu. Collectively, they provide a wealth of knowledge about peptide chemistry, structural biology, and biochemical analysis. IHV also works with Bioniz to provide the infrastructure to perform many of its studies. We are very grateful for their generosity with their facilities, resources, expertise, and willingness to share Dr. Tagaya.

Bioniz is engaged in extensive collaborations with the NIH. In particular, Dr. Steve Jacobson, a renowned leader in HAM/TSP and MS research, is leading our investigations of our lead candidate’s applicability to autoimmune diseases. Dr. Jacobson has performed clinical trials that left him believing that blocking IL-2 & -15 simultaneously could truly have therapeutic efficacy in patients, since he has shown that completely blocking IL-2 or IL-15’s private receptors individually shows partial efficacy. Dr. Jacobson currently oversees the largest cohort of HAM/TSP patients in the US, and he will be leading the clinical trials for our lead candidate, BNZ-1.

Jabri’s groundbreaking work in Celiac disease makes her the ideal champion for our second drug candidate, BNZ-2, which inhibits IL-15 & IL-21. Dr. Jabri has been the driving force behind investigations of the roles of these cytokines in autoimmune bowel diseases, and her lab brings an unparalleled understanding not just of the mechanics of the disease, but of understanding the needs and concerns of her patient populations.

University of Birmingham has been studying the therapeutic utility of BNZ-1 in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases of the liver. They have used their access to patient materials to test our compound in ex vivo patient samples.

Dr. Waldmann stands as a giant in the field of immunology and a close collaborator with Bioniz. Both founders, Drs. Azimi and Tagaya started their careers at Tom Waldmann’s lab under his direct mentorship. His contributions to the field of cytokine biology have been tremendous and include pioneering the first anti-cytokine immune-therapy. Dr. Waldmann continues to be a pivotal influence in his field, and in his capacity with the NIH, the value of his knowledge about ongoing and imminent investigations of interventions, and the breadth of perspective he brings from his decades of experience, cannot be overstated.

Takeda Ventures, Inc. (TVI) is the corporate venture arm of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TPC) a world-class pharmaceutical company and the largest in Japan. TVI (formerly Takeda Research Investment, Inc.), was founded in 2001 with the vision to extend Takeda’s reach into the Global scientific community and forge strategic relationships that complement and expand internal R&D capabilities. The change in name to Takeda Ventures, Inc. in 2011 reflects an intention to further leverage TVI’s venture networks to engage with new scientific and business avenues for Takeda, using strategic venturing to enable staged-entry into new spaces in a fully-informed manner. Our aim is to encourage and support therapeutic innovation in the biopharmaceutical sector, as well as academic centers of excellence, through early stage capital investment and the provision of access to the resources of a multinational pharmaceutical company.