Testimonials

Early detection of cancer and selection of the best treatment option from a simple urine test

First, could you tell us about Craif?

Onose: Craif’ technology makes it possible to detect cancer early and determine the best option for treatment from a urine test. First, this technology has the potential to detect many different cancers early. We haven’t yet decided which cancers to use first, but ideally, we would like to increase and develop a product which can detect around 10 cancers from a single urine test.

In terms of treatment options, there are various different drugs available to treat cancer, for example. This technology will make it possible to determine which of those drugs will be most effective in treating the particular patient.

So it will be possible to catch cancer in its early stages using a urine test?

Onose: Obviously, cancers are more easier to detect cancers in their later stage, but most cancers can be treated more effectively if they were detected early. The tests that are currently used for cancer diagnoses can detect advanced cancer, but they usually are not sensitive to detect earlier stages, such as stage I. So we wanted to catch early-stage cancers with a reasonably high degree of accuracy so that it can be treated early.

We’re told that this technology will work for almost all cancers. Is there a difference in accuracy depending on the type of cancer?

Onose: We haven’t tested it on all cancers yet, but for the ones we have tested, all of them have been detected with reasonably high accuracy

I see. So when, specifically, will it be available for use?

Onose: We are preparing launch the service in 2020. The plan is to start small and gradually increase the scope.
The feature for determining treatment options will come a little later. We’ll start with the feature for early detection of cancers.

How our COP and prototype service helped to make this revolutionary technology a reality

With increasing number of cancer patients today, this is likely to be quite a revolutionary solution. Tell us more about how your technology differs from the cancer tests currently being used.

Onose: The principle differs considerably from methods used so far. We’re looking at material called exosomes, which is used for communication between cells. These are capsule-like molecule which contain important biomolecule called microRNA. Cancer cells release more exosomes than other cells, so our technology analyzes the exosomes in urine. If a patient has early-stage cancer, more exosomes will be released into their body, and will come out in their urine.
Think about hacking a company’s emails. If something is going wrong in the company, that would be evident in their emails. But if you only have sporadic access to them, you probably could not find enough information and likely to misinterpret what you see. If you can see every detail you can get an accurate view of what is happening, and that’s the principle of our technology.

Selecting optimal treatment is an extension of this. By examinating exosomes, we are able to detect the organ of origin by its specific profile, but moreover, it also tells us the state of the cancer, which in turn gives us an idea of which drugs will work.

Determining cancer itself and the organ affected from early stage with a highly sensitive urine test has decent advantages. The organ can then be examined more closely with other methods, which eventually pushes down future meidal expence. It also minimizes the toll on patients as the cancer can now be intervened early. Since it only requires urine, we ultimately would like to develop the test so that customers can takes a urine samples at home and just sends it off to be tested.

Your analogy about seeing all of a company’s emails made it very easy to understand. So were there ever been an approach like this before?

Exosomes themselves became a focus in the scientific community about 10 years ago and research is being carried out at an increasing pace, but analyzing them had always been a major issue. We were the first in the world to create efficient technology that can capture 99% of exosomes from urine. Before then, scientists could only get a fragmented view of them; now we can perform a comprehensive analysis.

>2,000 types of microRNAs have been found in human exosomes. Existing technology can only read 200 to 300 types in each person, but we can read over 1,300. Which microRNA types exist differ depending on the body condition, but when we add up the samples we analyzed, we’ve been able to detect almost all of the known microRNAs.The comprehensive analysis is our uniqueness, and your COP is being used for the microfluidic chip in the device we use.

Did you design the device in-house too?

Onose: The original technology, including the design of the device, was invented by Dr. Takao Yasui, a co-founder of Craif and an associate professor in the School of Engineering at Nagoya University. We are in charge of developing it for practical use; so Craif is so called a university-launched venture.
Zeon’s support to Dr. Yasui since the research stage is one of our key success factor in developing this technology.

Ichikawa: We are working with Zeon to develop technologies to improve effectiveness to use nanowire devices that Dr. Yasui developed. When creating microfluidics, handling the characteristic distortion is key. COP is strong enough to withstand that, and is suitable for making the exosomes adhere to the nanowire.

Craif appreciates Zeon’s flexible responses and suggestions tailored to Craif’s needs

You’ve used Zeon’s COP and prototype service since the research stages. What kind of issues did you face when improving the technology, and what kind of improvements were you looking for when you came to Zeon with your request?

Ichikawa: In the initial stage, the main issue was to increase the throughput by creating devices that could measure more samples with reliability. Now we need to accelerate our research to meet requirements for commercial use by unifying our standards, increasing our throughput and achieving more reliable measurements at a lower price.

Zeon are true material professionals—they understand the characteristics well and give detailed advice; such as “using this shape will make things easier”. We don’t have that knowledge in areas like this, so that helps us a lot.

Was there any moment during your work with Zeon that made a particular impression on you?

Ichikawa: Basically I’m just so grateful for the way we were able to consult with you throughout the process and the level of comprehension of our needs when making suggestions

Onose: In the early R&D phase, the situation inevitably changes in an instant, and particularly, venture comanies need to act quickly, so having a supplier respond so flexibly makes a big difference.

Ichikawa: When I ask for something, some companies will just say “no, we can only do this”, so I’m deepy grateful to be working with Zeon that will talk with us and figure out what we need.

What message do you have for industries or companies that are considering using Zeon’s products and prototype service?

Onose: As Craif is a small company, I am truly grateful to Zeon for their high flexibly when working with us. That builds trust, and I think any venture would appreciate Zeon’s service.

Ichikawa: I think what all university-launched ventures have in common is that the R&D required in companies needs completely different perspectives from the research done in universities. It’s not uncommon that company researchers need to start over almost from the beginning, even 90% of the lab work seems to be done in the university.

Onose: That last 10% of the research, where we are challenging, takes even longer than the first 90%. That’s hard.
When it comes to our technology, the focus tends to be on the nanowire, but when we shift into the industrialization stage, the parts that aren’t in the spotlight are also important. Zeon’s help is invaluable in bringing those together.

Ichikawa: When I look back on how we have carried out projects so far, Zeon is a fantastic partner when it’s time to take that step toward putting an invention to practical use. They’re especially helpful for organizations like universities that have an amazing concept but are struggling to find a way to introduce it in to the society.

The technology also has applications outside cancer

What kind of potential does your technology have in future?

Ichikawa: What makes our technology so revolutionary is because we provide comprehensive view of exosomes and microRNA in the human body. Analyzing this will enable applications outside cancer too.
Each disease has expert doctors, so the idea is that our technology would help them understand the disease and patients’ phisiogic condition in a deeper level.

Onose: There are potential for applying in many diseases, but it’s not realistic to have one company to cover all of them—it would be too inefficient. Our core technology is the device, so I would like to be involved in joint developments in various fields, where our role is to supply this device. We are already partnering in projects for various diseases.

Our mission is to realizing a world of peaceful longevity, so that’s what I would like to work toward.