ABOUT TAIHO VENTURES
Two organizations, one operating history. The fund writes the check; the parent company provides the regulatory, clinical, and commercial muscle behind it.
THE FUND
Taiho Ventures, LLC is the corporate venture arm of Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., a Japanese specialty pharmaceutical company focusing on oncology, allergy and immunology, and urology. With $400M under management, we are actively investing in early stage private companies strategically relevant to Taiho Pharmaceutical. We consider company creation, spinouts and the option-type of investments as well as pure equity investments.
THE PARENT COMPANY
Taiho Pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of Otsuka Holdings Co., Ltd., is an R&D-driven specialty pharmaceutical company focusing on the three fields of oncology, allergies and immunology, and urology. Its corporate philosophy takes the form of a pledge: “We strive to improve human health and contribute to a society enriched by smiles.” In the field of oncology in particular, Taiho Pharmaceutical is known as a leading company in Japan that develops innovative medicines for the treatment of cancer. The company creates quality products that effectively treat a variety of medical conditions in other areas as well. Always putting customers first, Taiho Pharmaceutical also aims to offer over-the-counter medicinal products that support people’s efforts to lead fulfilling and rewarding lives.
A SIXTY-YEAR OPERATING HISTORY
A short version of the operating history behind the fund. The parent company has been in oncology longer than most of the partners have been alive.
1963
A specialty pharmaceutical company in Tokyo working in oncology, allergy and immunology, and urology. Three therapeutic areas; one of them stayed central.
2009
Taiho becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of Otsuka Holdings. The corporate pledge — improve human health, contribute to a society enriched by smiles — carries through.
2016
The corporate venture arm spins up in Menlo Park, on Sand Hill Road. Sakae Asanuma comes over from Astellas Venture Management to run it, bringing a portfolio playbook with him.
2026
Roughly twenty-three active companies in the portfolio, mostly entered at research to pre-IND. Sixty years of oncology behind the check, ten on Sand Hill Road.
WHERE WE INVEST
Three therapeutic areas Taiho has been doing the work in for sixty years — plus the adjacent platforms that change what’s possible inside them.
Solid tumors, hematologic malignancies, and the targeted-therapy and ADC programs that come after them. The therapeutic area Taiho was founded on in 1963.
Autoimmune and inflammatory disease, with a working interest in the overlap with oncology — IO combinations, T-cell engagers, and the next wave of cell therapies.
Genitourinary cancers and the broader urology pipeline. Less crowded than the headline indications, and an area where Taiho has been operating commercially for decades.
Gene and cell therapy, RNA, AI-led drug discovery, and the tooling underneath them. We back platforms when the science applies to a program we’d back on its own.
MORE RESOURCES
The full investment criteria
Stage, check size, geography, board involvement, the diligence questions we ask.
Submit a proposal
A short form, a written response within ten business days. Including for the ones that are not a fit.
Press & corporate inquiries
Quarterly portfolio updates, the Taiho parent-company filings, and a press contact.
