Leadership

Board Members

Board Directors

  • President and
    Representative Director

    Akimitsu Hirai

    Akimitsu Hirai(Personal photo)
    President and Representative Director

    Akimitsu Hirai

    Akimitsu Hirai received his LL.M. from the University of Washington and participated in the Human Genome Project during his doctral studies in medicine.

    As a legal and intellectual property expert with a background in science and technology, he had served as an advisor and board member for venture companies and has taken several biotechnology companies public.

    He became the representative director of C4U in August 2020.

  •  Board Director

    Koji Sonoda

    Board Director

    Koji Sonoda

    Koji Sonoda formarly worked for Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Ernst & Young ShinNihon LLC, and ABeam Consulting Ltd.
    At Prored Partners, he promoted the company's listing as an executive officer in charge of administration, and at Money Design, he served as a board director and CFO.

    He joined C4U in July 2023 and became a board director in March 2024.

  • External Director /
    Chief Scientific Officer

    Tomoji Mashimo, Ph.D.

    External Director /
    Chief Scientific Officer

    Tomoji Mashimo, Ph.D.

    Prof. Tomoji Mashimo founded C4U in March 2018 with the goal of social implementation of CRISPR-Cas3 technology, and became a board member in August 2020.

    He is currently a professor at the Division og Genome Engineering, Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo.

  • External Director

    Hiroki Narita

    External Director

    Hiroki Narita

    Hiroki Narita founded DCI Partners and has been President and CEO of a fund investing in Japan and Taiwan. He has served on the board of directors of several portfolio companies and joined our board in June 2021.

Corporate Auditors

  • External Auditor

    Masayuki Miyazaki

    External Auditor

    Masayuki Miyazaki

    Masayuki Miyazaki has long experience in corporate administration, serving as a representative director and general manager of the administration division at Shinseido, and then as a board member and general manager of the administration division at RIBOMIC Inc., a biotechnology venture company.

    He became a corporate auditor of C4U in March 2023.

  • External Auditor

    Taiji Edogawa

    External Auditor

    Taiji Edogawa

    After participating in the audits of numerous companies preparing for listing as a partner at Showa Ota & Co. (now Ernst & Young ShinNihon LLC), Taiji Edogawa established Edogawa Certified Public Accountant Office.

    He has served as an outside director/auditor for several listed companies and companies preparing for listing.

    He became our company's Corporate Auditor in November 2020.

Scientific Advisors

  • Junji Takeda, Ph.D.

    Research Institute
    for Microbial Diseases,
    Osaka University
  • Kazuto Yoshimi, Ph.D.

    The Institute of
    Medical Science,
    The University of Tokyo
  • Kohei Takeshita, Ph.D.

    RIKEN/
    University of Hyogo
  • Akitsu Hotta, Ph.D.

    Center for iPS cell
    Research and Application,
    Kyoto University
  • Takashi Yamamoto, Ph.D.

    Graduate School of
    Integrated Sciences for Life,
    Hiroshima University