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Winners of the Award for Academic Startups 2024 Program Selected
August 22, 2024
Joint Press Release with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the Japan Science and Technology Agency, and the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has selected SONIRE Therapeutics Inc. as the winner of the METI Minister's Award under the Award for Academic Startups 2024 Program. Consequently, Mr. Ishii Taku, Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, presented the award to the winner.
1. Outline of the Award for Academic Startups 2024 Program
The Award for Academic Startups Program aims to further promote the establishment of businesses that make use of the R&D outcomes achieved by universities or other entities, encourage startups to make challenging efforts, and encourage universities or companies to support university-developed startups. To this end, METI has been honoring promising and excellent university-developed startups.
The secretariat of the program called for applicants for the FY2024 program from Monday, April 1, to Tuesday, May 14, 2024, and 46 entities applied. Following this, the Screening Committee of external experts for the Award for Academic Startups 2024 (see Appendix 2) examined the application documents and held interviews with applicants. Finally, eight university-developed startups and the universities and companies supporting them were selected as winners.
A commendation ceremony was held on August 22, and Parliamentary Vice-Minister Ishii presented the METI Minister's Award to the winner, SONIRE Therapeutics Inc.
For details on the winners, please see Appendix 1 and visit the website for the Award for Academic Startups 2024 Program.
2. Outline of the winners and the award (For details, see Appendix 1.)
Winner of the METI Minister’s Award
- SONIRE Therapeutics Inc.
- Supporting university: Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University
- Supporting company: Hirata Corporation
Outline
- SONIRE Therapeutics Inc. is a startup engaging in the development of next-generation high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapy devices for intractable cancers.
- HIFU treatment is characterized by its minimal invasiveness, which helps to reduce the burden on the patient’s body, and lack of radiation exposure, which allows patients to receive repeated treatment.
- This startup has already started clinical trials of the device in Japan with the support of Hirata Corporation, and has steadily been making progress with its business with a view to expanding the application of the devices and developing business overseas in the future. METI evaluated the startup’s ability to implement its outcomes in society, including the ability to develop technology, coordinate stakeholders, and deploy its business globally.
3. Related Materials
- Appendix 1: List of the winners of the Award for Academic Startups 2024 Program (in Japanese)(PDF:76KB)
- Appendix 2: List of the members of the screening committee for the Award for Academic Startups 2024 Program (in Japanese)(PDF:73KB)
- Reference: Summary of the Award for Academic Startups 2024 Program (in Japanese)(PDF:112KB)
Division in Charge
Industry-University Collaboration Office, Innovation and Environment Policy Bureau