Japanese technology to supercharge human fertility

Japan's declining birth rate makes global headlines, but most of the developed world will soon be facing the same problem. The real solution involves a lot of social and economic changes, but as you'll see, technology has a huge role to play as well. Today we sit down and talk with Kaz Kishida, CEO of Dioseve, about how their technology promises to transform IVF, the rapid timeline for global rollout, and safety issues and ethnical questions involved. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes How Dioseve will make IVF far more successful Why over 7% of all babies born in Japan are from IVF Bio tech CEOs don’t need life science degrees Safety concerns Applications to rejuvenation and ani-aging Ethical questions around this kind of reseach Japan’s policies towards stem cell and genetic research Roadmap and go-to-market Why some babies will have three parents, and what that’s good How Dioseve's ovarian cell technology will change IVF Why Japan’s bio tech ecosystem remains under-developed It's not harder to build a bio tech startup in Japan, but it is different Links from our Guest Everything you ever wanted to know about Dioseve Friend Kaz on Facebook Leave a comment Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, Straight Talk from Japan's most innovative founders and VCs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Today we're going to talk about making babies. Now, this is not something that startups or startup podcasts normally weighed into, but as you'll see in this case, it makes a lot of sense. Today we sit down with Kaz Kishida, co-founder and CEO of Dioseve. And Dioseve has developed a technique for growing mature human eggs from IPS cells. Now, this technology represents a huge step forward for IVF and for human fertility in general. Some parts of Dioseve’s technology could be in commercial use as soon as next year. Now, kaz, I dive deep into Dioseve's technology and the potential good it can do and why some future babies will have three parents. We also cover the tricky ethical and safety issues involved, and we explore exactly why that, in spite of all Japan has going for it. The biotech startup ecosystem here is still facing challenges. But, you know, Kaz, tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, we're sitting here with Kaz Kishida of Dioseve who's helping to address fertility by using stem cells to create fertilizer eggs. So, thanks for sitting down with us. Kaz: Thank you very much for having me. Tim: Now I gave a very high level description of what you do in the intro, but can you explain it a little better than I can? Kaz: Okay. So, our company has technology to induce IPS cells and to another types of cells, including eggs and ovarian cells. Most of their cells are related to germ cells and reproduction. Tim: Well, this technique's not yet used in fertility treatments. But it's something in the future that holds a lot of potential. Kaz: Right, right. Currently, like In Vitro fertilization, the success rate is still remarkably low. And sometimes that vitamin journey is tough. But if we can deliver our products, say IPS cell derived ovarian cells, then the IVFs will be more accessible and the success rate will be enhanced so many women and can have their children using our technology. Tim: So why would the success rate be enhanced from using these eggs produced from stem cells as opposed to eggs harvested from the women directly? Kaz: So, in the standard protocol of In Vitro fertilization, the first step is to retrieve eggs from women. And then in many cases, those eggs are immature and immature eggs can't be fertilized with sperm. So, we can mature those immature eggs and we can make mature eggs, which can be used for fertilization. So, it directly enhance their success rate of IVF. Let me clarify that. And we have two technologies.