2025
/
08
/
20
JIC Venture Growth Investments (VGI) has acquired the shares in Arrowsmith Inc. (Arrowsmith), through its JIC Venture Growth Fund 2 .
Arrowsmith is a drug discovery startup developing “phage therapy,” an innovative treatment for drug-resistant bacterial infections and difficult-to-treat bacterial infections, using bacteriophages, which are viruses that prey on bacteria.
Recently, the spread of drug-resistant bacterial infections has become a major issue, with projections suggesting it could surpass cancer-related deaths in the future. Phage therapy is gaining attention as a new treatment for drug-resistant bacteria.
Arrowsmith was established in 2025 based on the results of a five-year joint research project between Astellas Pharma Inc. and Gifu University. On top of that, Arrowsmith has already received the grant approval for the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development's “Drug Discovery Venture Ecosystem Strengthening Project” (8th round) for the fiscal year 2025 (total amount of approximately 5 billion yen in maximum).
The purpose of VGI’s investment is to contribute to the realization of a healthy and long-lived society by providing innovative treatments to Japanese patients through social implementation of new modalities based on Japanese technology. On top of that, VGI also aims to strengthen the startup ecosystem by encouraging the setting up the company.
VGI would like to support Arrowsmith to accelerate the research and development and contribute to the revitalization of the venture ecosystem.
*Bacteria that have acquired antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to one or more antimicrobial agents, are highly resistant to those agents, and have become unresponsive to treatment.
The information contained in this notice is current at the time of publication and subject to change without notice.
