December 27, 2021

KDDI Corporation

KDDI concluded an investment agreement with Veritas In Silico Inc. (Headquarters: Shinagawa, Tokyo, President and Representative Director: Shingo Nakamura; hereinafter "VIS"), a company that develops small molecule drugs targeting mRNA [1] through the KDDI Open Innovation Fund III (operated by Global Brain Corporation; hereinafter "KOIF III"), which aims to incubate new business co-creations with promising venture startups.

VIS has developed their ibVIS platform that combines informatics and experimental biology to discover small molecule drugs (SMDs) targeting motifs on the mRNA. The ibVIS platform can be applied to discovery of not only SMDs but also antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs). VIS can meet a wide range of drug discovery needs for pharmaceutical companies by using ASOs for rare diseases and SMDs for chronic diseases and infectious diseases. VIS’s mission is to build a society where every patient, especially those with diseases that currently have no satisfactory treatment, can look forward to a brighter future through the realization of mRNA-targeted drugs.

Through this investment, KDDI will assist improving "ibVIS (R)" of VIS by providing KDDI's telecom and DX assets.

As "the company that customers feel closest to," KDDI will continue to promote business co-creation through investment in promising startup companies, and create new business models together with customers and partners.

(Reference)

• ■Overview of Veritas In Silico Inc.

  • (1)

    Company name: Veritas In Silico Inc.

  • (2)

    Headquarters: 1-11-1 Nishigotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-0031 Japan

  • (3)

    Date founded: 2016

  • (4)

    Business activities: Drug discovery technology platform business for small molecule and antisense oligonucleotide drugs targeting mRNA

  • (5)

    Representative: Shingo Nakamura
    URL: https://www.veritasinsilico.com/en/

• ■About KDDI Open Innovation Fund

  KDDI Open Innovation Fund is a corporate venture fund that supports a broad range of venture companies. The currently active KDDI Open Innovation Fund III focuses on the areas of AI, IoT, data marketing, fintech, B2B SaaS, and entertainment with a total operating fund of 20 billion yen.

• [1]

  mRNA: RNAs with base sequence information and structure that can be translated as proteins