Shionogi’s CVC unit takes infectious diseases specialist into new area of fertility

Shionogi, the Japanese pharmaceuticals group, announced an investment in Dioseve, a startup developing novel treatments for infertility. It is the second investment by the corporate VC unit set up by the company last year, and an indication of how the 148-year-old group plans to use startup investment to broaden beyond its traditional core focus on infectious diseases.

“Our CVC initiative is fundamentally different from our traditional business development activity,” said Keisuke Kusumoto, head of corporate venture at Shionogi. The unit is mandated primarily to deliver financial returns by backing ventures in areas where Shionogi itself is not currently active. One of these is future healthcare needs, such as fertility.

“We are currently paying close attention to women’s health, and we plan to accelerate investment in high‑demand areas such as infertility treatment,” Kusumoto told GCV.

Dioseve is developing proprietary technology for infertility treatments, focused on creating reproductive cells — oocytes and their supporting ovarian somatic cells — from iPS cells such as adult cells in skin or blood. A handful of companies around the world are developing these processes which are still at an early experimental stage and extremely laborious to carry out. If Dioseve is successful in its aim of making the procedure more efficient, it would advance fertility treatment work significantly.

To date, Shionogi has been primarily known for its work on infectious diseases, particularly antibiotics and antivirals, and for having developed key blockbuster therapies that revolutionised the management of HIV.

The CVC unit, which has an annual investment budget of $14m, will look beyond this, focusing on three pillars. The first targets themes such as longevity, anti-ageing, restoration of the five senses, muscle and immune function, and women’s health. The second looks for disruptive approaches in infectious diseases that fall outside Shionogi’s in-house pipeline, such as potential curative treatments for HIV. The third covers enabling technologies like AI, quantum computing and robotics that could transform drug discovery and manufacturing.

Funding for investments comes directly from Shionogi’s balance sheet, and the company typically plans to invest up to $3m per early-stage company. Although its first two investments have focused on Japan, the CVC plans to accelerate activity, expanding its search to Europe, the US and wider Asia in the coming years.