Diabetes is generally considered a disease that patients must manage over a long period once it develops. Current treatment primarily focuses on controlling blood glucose through dietary therapy, exercise therapy, medication, insulin, and related approaches.

Stabilizing blood glucose is extremely important for preventing complications. At the same time, lowering blood glucose alone may not reach the underlying causes that allow the diabetic state to remain in the body.

What Biozipcode Inc. is aiming for is an approach to the fundamental mechanisms that maintain diabetes, beyond blood glucose management alone.

The initiatives that later formed the foundation of Biozipcode Inc. began around 2015.

Initially, Studio Makyu Co., Ltd. supported bioinformatics, in silico analysis, large-scale computation using GPGPU, and research software development as part of joint research with a laboratory at Shiga University of Medical Science.

In January 2022, Biozipcode Inc. was established to carry forward the joint research activities that had been conducted by Studio Makyu Co., Ltd. In April 2022, the joint research course “Regenerative Medicine Development Course” was established within Shiga University of Medical Science, where research and development on intractable diseases including diabetes, cancer, and autoimmune diseases was advanced.

In April 2026, the Industry–Academia Joint Course “Department of Biocommunication Development” was established at Kyoto University, Graduate School of Medicine and Faculty of Medicine. This represents a further development and transition of the previous research activities, with research and development on cell-targeted therapy now being pursued.

In June 2023, research findings on diabetic mice were published in Communications Biology, an academic journal in the Nature Portfolio.

This study used STZ-induced diabetic mice and reported experimental results related to abnormal bone marrow-derived cells, HDAC inhibitors, combined insulin use, islet regeneration, and maintenance of normoglycemia.

In particular, the finding that temporary use of an HDAC inhibitor while controlling blood glucose with insulin maintained normoglycemia even after treatment ended provides an important basis for research that views diabetes not simply as a disease of blood glucose, but as an abnormal cellular state that remains in the body.

However, this is preclinical research using mice. It does not mean that there is an approved treatment for humans or a treatment that can currently be offered to the general public. By further clarifying the relationship between 5-ALA and HDAC inhibitors, we believe it may become possible to explore broader application in humans through step-by-step verification of safety, efficacy, dosing methods, target patients, clinical trials, and regulatory approval.

5-ALA is a compound that also exists in the human body and is known to be involved in mitochondria and energy metabolism. Its relationship with diabetes and metabolic abnormalities has also been studied in Japan and overseas.

In fact, clinical studies combining 5-ALA with sodium ferrous citrate (SFC) have evaluated safety and effects on HbA1c and blood glucose in patients with type 2 diabetes. In a study conducted in Bahrain, a reduction in HbA1c was reported in the group that received 5-ALA/SFC, and a food intervention study involving patients with diabetes in Japan also indicated a trend toward improvement in HbA1c.

In addition, Phase IIa trials of 5-ALA/SFC involving patients with type 2 diabetes are registered in the European clinical trials registry, indicating that 5-ALA has undergone a certain level of clinical investigation in the diabetes field.

However, these results do not prove that 5-ALA cures diabetes. At present, they should be understood as indicating that clinical studies and intervention trials exist that suggest the possibility of blood glucose control and metabolic improvement.

In Biozipcode Inc.’s research toward fundamental diabetes treatment, 5-ALA is not treated as a standalone “diabetes cure ingredient”. Instead, the company is examining how it may be utilized within a broader research framework that includes diabetes stem cells, cell-targeting technology, insulin, HDAC inhibitors, metabolic improvement, and measures against complications.

The regulatory requirements and appropriate wording for 5-ALA differ depending on whether it is discussed in the context of health foods, active pharmaceutical ingredients, clinical research, or medical use. For that reason, this page introduces existing clinical research on 5-ALA while avoiding definitive statements about efficacy or safety, and presents it as something that should be evaluated through future research, clinical trials, safety confirmation, and review by regulatory authorities. We also understand 5-ALA to be a substance with HDAC-inhibitory activity.

Biozipcode™ is a cell-targeting technology that aims to deliver drugs or substances to specific cells.

Just as a postal code identifies an address, Biozipcode™ focuses on the characteristics of each cell and aims to selectively approach target cells.

In diabetes research, it is important to identify abnormal cells and deliver candidate therapeutic substances to the places where they are needed. If it becomes possible to recognize target cells more accurately and act only where needed, this may eventually lead to more efficient treatments with fewer side effects.

Biozipcode™ technology is being studied not only for diabetes, but also for potential applications in cancer, autoimmune diseases, intractable diseases, diagnostics, drug delivery, and tissue regeneration.

Biozipcode™ cell-targeting technology is being studied not only for diabetes, but also for potential applications in cancer treatment.

Anticancer drugs attack cancer cells, but they may also affect normal cells. As a result, even when therapeutic effects are expected, side effects such as nausea, hair loss, fatigue, and bone marrow suppression can become major issues that affect a patient’s quality of life.

What Biozipcode Inc. is aiming for is not to have anticancer drugs act broadly throughout the body, but to deliver drugs to the locations where treatment is needed by targeting cancer cells and pathological cells more selectively.

This research applies Biozipcode™ technology, which identifies characteristics of individual cells, to study methods for delivering drugs more accurately to cancer cells and pathological stem cells. In the future, it may also create possibilities for using existing anticancer drugs, or drugs that have been difficult to use because of side effects, more safely.

At the Industry–Academia Joint Course “Department of Biocommunication Development” at Kyoto University, Graduate School of Medicine and Faculty of Medicine, application of cell-targeting technology to cancer treatment is also one of the research themes. Researchers from the Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, also participate in the joint research team, and the research is being advanced with connections to clinical fields such as gastrointestinal cancers.

The phrase “anticancer drugs with no side effects” is used to express the research goal in an easily understandable way. It does not mean that an anticancer drug with absolutely no side effects has already been completed or approved as medical treatment.

To avoid misunderstandings under medical advertising and pharmaceutical regulations, this site presents the topic as “research aiming to develop anticancer drugs with reduced side effects” or “research aiming toward cancer treatments with fewer side effects.”

Cancer treatment research using Biozipcode™ aims to identify cancer cells more accurately and deliver drugs where needed, with the goal of enhancing therapeutic effects while reducing the burden on patients. Like the diabetes research, it is a research and development project that seeks to apply the concept of targeting cells to cancer treatment.

One major feature of Biozipcode™ is the idea of using “seven-amino-acid sequences” to distinguish target cells.

Just as Japanese postal codes narrow down regions and addresses, Biozipcode™ seeks to identify short amino-acid sequences that correspond to the characteristics of specific cells and use those sequences as markers. This approach aims to selectively deliver drugs or diagnostic substances to target cells, rather than allowing them to act broadly on all cells in the body.

Because there are 20 types of amino acids, combining seven amino acids can theoretically create approximately 1.3 billion possible sequences. The basic concept of Biozipcode™ is to search among these for sequences that readily bind to specific cells or tissues, and apply them to drug delivery and diagnostic technologies.

If this technology is put into practical use, it may make it possible to deliver drugs closer to the cells that need treatment, rather than having them act broadly throughout the body like conventional drugs. As a result, the aim is to enhance therapeutic effects while reducing effects on cells that do not require treatment.

In diabetes research, it is important to identify abnormal cells that may be maintaining the diabetic state and deliver necessary candidate therapeutic substances to those cells. Biozipcode™’s seven-amino-acid technology plays a role similar to “addressing within the body” for that purpose.

Biozipcode Inc. is currently advancing the following initiatives, centered on research aiming toward a diabetes cure.

• Continuation of research on diabetes stem cells
• Applied research on the Biozipcode™ cell-targeting technology
• Study of diagnostic and testing technologies for diabetes and its complications
• Study of 5-ALA-related research and clinical research concepts
• Industry–academia joint research with Kyoto University
• Collaboration with pharmaceutical companies, medical institutions, and overseas partners
• Overseas expansion with Palau, the UAE, and other regions in view
• Maintenance of patents and intellectual property and licensing development
• Development of public information to accurately communicate the research

These efforts are not intended to sell a completed medical service, but are step-by-step initiatives to connect research outcomes to future medicine.

Social implementation of medical research takes time. Even when preclinical research indicates potential, use as a treatment for humans requires clinical trials, safety evaluation, efficacy evaluation, regulatory approval, manufacturing systems, and collaboration with medical institutions.

Biozipcode Inc.’s initiatives are still on that path.

Even so, we believe it is meaningful to reframe diabetes not only as a disease that must be managed for life, but as a disease whose underlying causes may be addressed.

Rather than merely lowering blood glucose, this approach seeks to address the cells and mechanisms that maintain diabetes.
Beyond that may lie the possibility of fundamental diabetes treatment and new medical approaches to prevent complications.

This page is intended to clearly organize public information and the flow of research and development regarding Biozipcode Inc.’s research aimed at developing a diabetes cure.

It does not guarantee any medical effect, nor does it make definitive claims regarding the efficacy or safety of any specific treatment, pharmaceutical product, 5-ALA product, or medical service.

For diabetes treatment, always consult a physician or other qualified medical professional. In addition, when making decisions regarding research and development, investment, partnerships, clinical trials, or token-related businesses, it is necessary to review the latest public information, contracts, and legal, pharmaceutical/regulatory, medical advertising, accounting, and tax matters.