Taiho VenturesA small institutional fund inside a Japanese pharma. Three areas — oncology, immunology, urology. Research through proof-of-concept. Co-investing with the firms that lead.
01 — Letter from the Partners
A note on what we mean when we say strategic syndicate partner
We started in 2016 with a single mandate from our parent company: invest in the science Taiho Pharmaceutical needs to be reading about a decade from now. Two hundred million dollars under management at the time, four hundred million today. Five investors on the team. Twenty-three companies on the cap table.
We are not the lead. We almost never lead. We come in early — research to proof-of-concept — alongside the firms running the round, and we add what those firms generally cannot: a credible global pharma partner sitting at the table, asking the kind of development questions a real partner would ask in year five.
Patient capital is not a marketing line for us. Our parent does not need this fund to clear a seven- to ten-year window, and that fact changes the kind of science we can back. It also changes the kind of conversation we can have with founders about timing, modality risk, and what the second program looks like before the first one has cleared Phase I.
02 — Portfolio
Twenty-three companies. Three therapeutic areas. One thesis.
Selected companies from the active book. Captioned by area, modality, and clinical stage as of the most recent disclosure. Photography is from site visits and partner-led shoots; we do not use stock imagery.
Feature · Oncology
cullinanoncology.com
Public oncology platform building bispecifics and small-molecule inhibitors against ER+ breast, NSCLC, and AML. We led co-investment alongside MPM and F-Prime in 2018; partnered through the IPO.
Platform · Phase I
ornatx.com
A circular-RNA platform with potential across oncology, vaccines, and protein replacement. We co-invested in the 2022 round led by MPM and Merck, and the Pfizer collaboration followed within twelve months.
Circular RNA · Series B · 2022
Oncology · Phase I
haldatx.com
A novel ribosomal-targeting platform with first-in-class small molecules in prostate and breast cancer. Series B in 2024, alongside Canaan and Deep Track.
Small molecule · Series B · 2024
Oncology
magnetbio.com
A molecular-glue discovery platform aimed at transcription factors and other undruggable oncology targets. Co-investment alongside Newpath and Catalio in 2023.
Discovery · Molecular glue
Immunology
normunity.com
Normunity is decoding the tumor-normal interface to find immunotherapy targets that other platforms miss. We co-invested at Series A in 2021.
Pre-IND · Antibody
Immunology
werewolftx.com
A conditionally-active immunotherapy platform — INDUKINE molecules engineered to activate inside the tumor microenvironment, sparing peripheral tissue. Public.
Phase II · Conditionally-active cytokine
03 — The Syndicate
We do not lead rounds. We co-invest. The chart below is the active book — firms we have co-invested with on at least two named rounds since 2016, ranked by frequency. Pharma sits next to the dedicated biotech crossover names, which is the kind of cap-table that tends to clear regulatory questions earlier than later.
Who we co-invest with, and how often — Compiled · Q1 2026 · Source: internal records
04 — Pull · Folio 22
Patient capitalis not a marketing line.It is a structural fact.
05 — Masthead
Five investors
Photography · L. Tanaka · Menlo Park, CA · March 2026
President & CEO
Founder · 2016
Astellas Venture Management; Yasuda Enterprise
CFA · MBA · Menlo Park
Partner & Senior Investment Director
Joined 2016
Taiho Pharmaceutical, Oncology R&D, 12 yrs
PhD · Hokkaido · Menlo Park
Senior Investment Director
Joined 2019
Taiho Pharmaceutical, Oncology MSL
Mol. Biology · Menlo Park
Investment Director
Joined 2022
Taiho Pharmaceutical, EGFR Discovery, 9 yrs
PhD · Univ. Tokyo · Menlo Park
Associate Investment Director
Joined 2024
Taiho Pharmaceutical, Non-Clinical Tox, 15 yrs
PhD · Tokushima · Menlo Park