SanBio Co. Ltd. and Juntendo University have reached an agreement on joint research into the production of pancreatic beta cells using the direct reprogramming method developed by Juntendo University. Type 1 diabetes is a potentially life-threatening autoimmune disease characterized by the destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells, and people with type 1 diabetes require lifelong treatment with insulin. Globally, around 5% of all diabetes patients are type 1 diabetes, and while the disease is most common in younger people it occurs across a wide range of age groups. In 2017, there are about 80,000 patients suffering from type 1 diabetes. Through this joint research agreement, SanBio and Juntendo University seek to develop a regenerative medicine product for the treatment of type 1 diabetes by producing pancreatic beta cells from mesenchymal stem cells using the direct reprogramming of somatic cells, a method developed by Diagnostics and Therapeutics of Intractable Diseases, Intractable Disease Research Center, Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University (Professor Yasushi Okazaki, Visiting Associate Professor Masahito Matsumoto). The two parties aim to collect the data necessary to proceed to clinical trials by combining the SanBio's expertise in regenerative medicine accumulated in the process of SB623 development with Juntendo University's discovery of direct reprogramming of somatic cells, and evaluating efficacy and safety in an animal model for type 1 diabetes.