Investment Focus
First-in-class science, narrow by design.
Taiho Ventures concentrates where its team's oncology drug-development experience runs deepest — defined by a tight set of criteria.
Sectors
We invest across three sources of innovation.
Drug discovery
First-in-class or new-biology approaches.
Platform technologies
New platforms for drug discovery.
Spin-outs
Opportunities emerging from Taiho's pipelines.
Therapeutic areas
Our core investment focus is oncology.
Supplemented by active interest in immunology, allergy, urology, musculoskeletal health, and orphan indications.
Modality
We invest across modalities — from small molecules to biologics and oncolytic virus.
And we consider gene and cell therapy opportunistically.
Stage
We invest early: from research through Pre-IND, and selectively from IND to proof-of-concept.
Research
Pre-IND
IND
Proof-of-concept
Portfolio
Where conviction leads
Everything we've backed since 2016 flows toward an outcome — the public markets, a strategic acquirer, or the long build still underway.
Inside the criteria
These criteria come from the bench.
Our investment team includes scientists who advanced oncology programs at Taiho Pharmaceutical — through discovery, IND, and into the clinic. Taiho Ventures was founded in 2016 by Sakae Asanuma, CFA.
See the team