INSTITUTION PROFILE / iPS CELLS & REGENERATIVE MEDICINE
Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), Kyoto University
The research hub of the university that holds the core iPS cell patents
CiRA is a research institute of Kyoto University, set up in 2010 after Shinya Yamanaka's discovery of iPS cells. It does not sell regenerative medicine products, grant approvals or distribute research funding. Its role is to advance iPS cell research and hand the results on to companies, and a major source of its influence is the core patents that Kyoto University holds in 34 countries and regions. This profile asks how much influence CiRA really has over iPS cells and regenerative medicine. The Kyoto University iPS Cell Research Foundation (the CiRA Foundation) is a separate legal entity; this article covers the research institute.
- CiRA in 30 seconds
- What kind of body it is: the four types of influence
- What it does for iPS cells and regenerative medicine
- How far its influence reaches (powers and geography)
- Who else is involved: companies, the foundation and the hub
- Outlook
- Glossary, references and claim-to-source audit
1. CiRA in 30 seconds
CiRA is on the research side. It does not set the rules, and it does not hand out money. In March 2026, two regenerative medicine products made from iPS cells, Sumitomo Pharma's Amchepry and Cuorips' Reheart, received conditional and time-limited marketing approval in Japan Sourced. The approvals went to the companies. CiRA's contribution was basic research that was handed on to companies, and Kyoto University's core patents. On the strength of an application based on an approved product, the patent term in Japan was extended by five years, from its scheduled expiry on 6 December 2026 to 6 December 2031 Sourced.
2. What kind of body it is: the four types of influence
Unlike the companies in this series, the institutions that appear in iPS cell and regenerative medicine coverage do not sell products. What separates them is the route by which they influence the industry, and that gives four types.
3. What it does for iPS cells and regenerative medicine
| Activity | What it covers | Category |
|---|---|---|
| Research divisions | Four research divisions (life science frontiers, clinical application, fundamental technology, and the Uehiro ethics research division), plus a drug discovery technology development office and other units. Together they pursue practical application of iPS cells from basic research through to application. The ethics division deals with the ethical, legal and social issues surrounding clinical use of iPS cells | Sourced |
| Goals to 2030 | (1) Spread regenerative medicine built around a stock of iPS cells; (2) deliver personalised medicine and drug discovery for intractable diseases; (3) open up new life science and medicine; (4) improve the research support system and environment | Sourced |
| Core patents | Kyoto University holds core patents in 34 countries and regions. The patent term runs for 20 years from the international filing date (6 December 2006). In September 2026 a five-year extension of the Japanese patent was decided. Licensing is carried out by iPS Academia Japan, Inc. | Sourced |
| Supply of research materials | Provided to universities and research institutions for academic research only, through the RIKEN BioResource Research Center and other channels. Companies need a licence agreement and a material transfer agreement (MTA) | Sourced |
| Core research hub | In AMED's acceleration programme, the core research hub (NCGT) has four hub institutions: CiRA, Jichi Medical University, the National Center for Child Health and Development, and the Kyoto University iPS Cell Research Foundation. The lead investigator is a CiRA professor | Sourced |
| iPS cell stock | In April 2020 the project was transferred to the Kyoto University iPS Cell Research Foundation, a public interest foundation. The foundation, a separate legal entity, is now the point of contact | Sourced |
4. How far its influence reaches (powers and geography)
| Aspect | What CiRA has | What it does not have |
|---|---|---|
| Powers | Producing research results and supplying research materials. Through the core patents Kyoto University holds, companies use the technology under a licence (the contact point is iPS Academia Japan) | Approval of regenerative medicine products (the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare), review (PMDA), allocation of research funding (AMED) and running the stock (the foundation) |
| Geography | The institute is in Japan (Kyoto). The core patents are granted in 34 countries and regions, so they can matter to companies developing products outside Japan too | Any power to shape other countries' approval systems |
| Time horizon | The patent term is 20 years from the international filing date. In Japan, after the extension, it runs to 6 December 2031 | Patent rights in Japan beyond 6 December 2031 (the extended expiry date) |
| Scale | 272 staff (145 more counted separately) and FY2025 spending of ¥7.4 billion | Detail on how the money is used (within the sources checked, we have only the percentage by category) |
The ¥7.4 billion is FY2025 spending and is the total of the funds CiRA receives. The categories are industry-academia collaborative research funds, the iPS Cell Research Fund, basic operating funds, Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research and private grants. The page does not show what the largest of these, industry-academia collaborative research funds (62%), is made up of, whether government programmes or companies Not yet confirmed. The figure that clinical studies or trials have begun in Japan for "more than ten research projects using iPS cells" is NCGT's statement and not CiRA's own record.
5. Who else is involved: companies, the foundation and the hub
Here is what the official pages say about CiRA's ties with companies. T-CiRA was a ten-year joint research programme between CiRA and Takeda Pharmaceutical, started in FY2016, and it ended at the end of March 2026 Sourced. Two programmes pursued under it, iPS cell-derived cardiomyocytes and iPS cell-derived pancreatic islet cells, were transferred in August 2021 to Orizuru Therapeutics, Inc., as candidate regenerative medicine products Sourced. On the two products approved in March 2026, CiRA's news item says that basic research created at Kyoto University "was handed on to companies and bore fruit in practical use in society" Sourced. The iPS cell stock project, meanwhile, has been taken over by the Kyoto University iPS Cell Research Foundation (the CiRA Foundation), which is a separate legal entity from CiRA.
6. Outlook
| What the evidence suggests | Primary information it rests on | Category |
|---|---|---|
| The core patent in Japan has been extended to 6 December 2031, but the licensing framework will continue for the time being | The extension was granted, and Kyoto University's patent strategy is described as protecting an environment that companies and research institutions can use widely | Inference |
| With approved products on the market, CiRA's centre of gravity is likely to shift towards improving products after approval and tackling the next diseases | The four goals to 2030, and the director's message calling the approvals a result that symbolises the course of CiRA's research | Inference |
| With T-CiRA over, collaboration with companies may break up into individual joint research projects | T-CiRA ended at the end of March 2026, as planned for its ten years. We found no successor framework within the sources checked | Inference |
7. Glossary
- CiRA
- The Center for iPS Cell Research and Application at Kyoto University. Pronounced "sye-ra".
- Core patents
- The central patents Kyoto University holds on matters such as how iPS cells are made.
- Patent term extension
- A system that lets the term of a patent be extended by up to five years to make up for the time taken for approval of a drug or regenerative medicine product.
- Conditional and time-limited approval
- A Japanese system that approves, for a limited period, a regenerative medicine product whose efficacy is presumed and whose safety has been confirmed.
- MTA
- Material transfer agreement: the contract used when research materials such as cells are passed to another party.
- NCGT
- The core research hub for regenerative, cell and gene therapy, part of AMED's acceleration programme.
8. References
- CiRA Mission and history (in Japanese): name, establishment on 1 April 2010, goals to 2030, and the April 2020 transfer of the stock project. https://www.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/j/about/mission.html
- CiRA Organisation chart, "Staff and budget execution" (in Japanese): 272 members (145 counted separately) as of 1 April 2026, and FY2025 spending of ¥7.4 billion with its breakdown. https://www.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/j/about/img/cira-facts_20260604.svg
- CiRA Research divisions (in Japanese): the four research divisions, the drug discovery technology development office and other units. https://www.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/j/about/organization_division.html
- CiRA CiRA's intellectual property (in Japanese): the 34 countries and regions where Kyoto University's core patents are granted, the patent term and licensing. https://www.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/j/research/ip.html
- CiRA News, "Extension of the term of the core iPS cell patent decided" (in Japanese, 24 September 2026). https://www.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/j/pressrelease/news/260924-140000.html
- CiRA iPS cell stock project for regenerative medicine (in Japanese): the handover to the foundation. https://www.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/j/research/stock.html
- CiRA T-CiRA (in Japanese): the joint programme with Takeda Pharmaceutical, its end in March 2026, and the 2021 transfer to Orizuru Therapeutics. https://www.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/j/research/t-cira.html
- CiRA Provision of research materials (in Japanese): the licence and MTA required when cells are supplied to companies. https://www.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/j/research/material_profit.html
- CiRA Message from the director (in Japanese): Director Koji Eto, the goals to 2030, and the reference to the conditional and time-limited approvals of March 2026. https://www.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/j/about/director.html
- NCGT Organisation and research co-investigators, core research hub for regenerative medicine, cell therapy and gene therapy (in Japanese): a CiRA professor is the lead investigator. https://ncgt.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/j/structure/
- AMED Acceleration Program for Regenerative Medicine, Cell Therapy and Gene Therapy (in Japanese): the place of the core research hub in the programme. https://www.amed.go.jp/program/list/13/01/013.html
- PMDA Regenerative medicine products approved in FY2025 (in Japanese): Amchepry and Reheart, approved on 6 March 2026 as conditional and time-limited approvals. https://www.pmda.go.jp/files/000280052.pdf
9. Claim-to-source audit
| Claim in the article | Category | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Name, establishment on 1 April 2010, the centre set up in January 2008, the goals to 2030, the April 2020 transfer of the stock project | Sourced | Reference 1 https://www.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/j/about/mission.html |
| 272 members (145 counted separately), FY2025 spending of ¥7.4 billion and its breakdown (62%, 20%, 11%, 4%, 3%) | Sourced | Reference 2 https://www.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/j/about/img/cira-facts_20260604.svg |
| The four research divisions, the drug discovery technology development office and other units | Sourced | Reference 3 https://www.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/j/about/organization_division.html |
| Core patents in 34 countries and regions, the patent term, and licensing by iPS Academia Japan | Sourced | Reference 4 https://www.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/j/research/ip.html |
| The five-year extension of the core patent (to 6 December 2031), the reference to the March 2026 approvals, and Kyoto University's patent strategy | Sourced | Reference 5 https://www.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/j/pressrelease/news/260924-140000.html |
| The stock project was taken over by the foundation | Sourced | Reference 6 https://www.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/j/research/stock.html |
| The content and end of T-CiRA, and the transfer to Orizuru Therapeutics | Sourced | Reference 7 https://www.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/j/research/t-cira.html |
| Companies need a licence and an MTA to be supplied with iPS cells | Sourced | Reference 8 https://www.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/j/research/material_profit.html |
| The director (Koji Eto), and the statement that the approvals symbolise the course of CiRA's research | Sourced | Reference 9 https://www.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/j/about/director.html |
| The four hub institutions of the core research hub (NCGT), a CiRA professor as lead investigator, and the statement that clinical studies or trials have begun for more than ten projects in Japan | Sourced | NCGT's own statement / Reference 10 https://ncgt.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/j/structure/ |
| NCGT is part of AMED's acceleration programme | Sourced | Reference 11 https://www.amed.go.jp/program/list/13/01/013.html |
| The conditional and time-limited approvals of 6 March 2026 (Amchepry, Reheart) | Sourced | Reference 12 https://www.pmda.go.jp/files/000280052.pdf |
| The four types of institution, and the groupings in Fig. 2 | Our calculation | Our own classification in this article |
| What the industry-academia collaborative research funds consist of, treatment of the patent after expiry, and any successor framework to T-CiRA | Not yet confirmed | Not stated in references 1 to 12; this article does not estimate them |
| The three inferences in the outlook (section 6) | Inference | This article's reading of references 1, 5, 7 and 9 |
Last updated 1 October 2026 / Troy Technical
All figures come from CiRA's official website and PMDA's published material. Items marked "Inference" are this article's reading of the primary information, not statements by CiRA.