Announcement of the 6th MICHINOOK Seminar, “Industry-Academia Collaborative Life Sciences Tackling a Super-Aging Society: A Future Paved by the Brain, Molecules, Drug Discovery, and AI (artificial intelligence)”

We are pleased to announce that the 6th MICHINOOK Seminar, entitled “Industry-Academia Collaborative Life Sciences Tackling a Super-Aging Society: A Future Paved by the Brain, Molecules, Drug Discovery, and AI (artificial intelligence),” hosted by Tohoku University, was held at the Nihonbashi Life Science Hub on January 27, 2026. Our Chairman and President, Professor Toshio Miyata (Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine), delivered a lecture.

This seminar is a forum for discussing the latest trends in the science and technology in the field of life sciences and the potential for industry-academia collaboration to solve important societal challenges such as extending healthy lifespans and maintaining the quality of life (QOL) of the elderly. Tohoku University researchers gave presentations on the cutting edge of neuroscience, molecular mechanisms, drug discovery, and AI behavioral science. Approximately 100 people, including corporate researchers and new business leaders, attended the event. Professor Hideo Harigae, Executive Vice President and Hospital Director of Tohoku University, who is the lead investigator for our XPRIZE Healthspan¹⁾ clinical trial, also delivered a welcome speech.

Professor Miyata talked on the topic of “Development of Senolytic Drugs²⁾,” highlighting the immune system-mediated elimination of cancer and senescent cells by the PAI-1 inhibitor RS5614 and its potential as an anti-aging and longevity drug. He also discussed the clinical development status of RS5614 and our participation in the international healthy lifespan extension competition “XPRIZE Healthspan.”

¹⁾ XPRIZE Healthspan
This global competition offers a total of US$100 million to research teams that extend healthy lifespan. This competition, hosted by the XPRIZE Foundation, aims to revolutionize therapeutic approaches to human aging and longevity and tackle the challenging challenge of actively extending healthy lifespan by more than 10 years. The foundation has previously hosted several prize-winning competitions aimed at developing technologies that benefit humanity and solving global challenges, including the world’s first private lunar exploration and a carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage technology competition.

²⁾ Senolytic Drugs
Senolytic drugs are drugs that aim to suppress chronic inflammation and improve tissue aging by selectively eliminating senescent cells whose function has declined due to aging and stress.