代表取締役 堀川 諒（CEO Ryo Horikawa）
高校生の頃、病気で入院する祖父を見舞った翌日明朝に訃報を受け、自身の無力さを痛感しながら「生命に貢献できる仕事がしたい」と思ったことを鮮明に覚えています。大学時代に共同創業者である竹内先生の研究室に入り、医療分野への応用を目指したタンパク質認識材料の研究を行いながら、「自分の研究成果が社会実装できれば、どれほど良いか」と思っていました。
そうして今、研究者として当時の研究内容の延長線上にあるTearExo法の社会実装に取り組めていることを心から嬉しく思うとともに、代表取締役として少しでも早く世に出せるように尽力せねばという使命感に駆られています。
I still vividly remember the moment in high school when I visited my grandfather in the hospital, only to receive the news of his passing early the next morning. Overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness, I felt a deep desire to one day contribute to saving lives through my work.
During my Kobe University years, I joined the laboratory of Dr. Takeuchi, who would later become my co-founder. There, I conducted research on protein-recognition materials with potential applications in the biomedical field. While working in the lab, I often thought, “If only these research outcomes could be implemented in society, how impactful that would be.”
Today, I feel truly fortunate to be involved as a researcher in the social implementation of the TearExo method—a direct extension of the work I began back then. At the same time, as the CEO of TearExo Inc., I feel a strong sense of mission to bring this innovation to the world as quickly as possible.
共同創業者 竹内 俊文（CSO Toshifumi Takeuchi）
私は分子の鋳型をとる技術、分子インプリンティングの技術を用いて、「生体のもつ機能を人工的に利用したり、再現したりする」研究を行ってきました。最近、その技術をベースにして、涙でがんを検出する“TearExo法”の開発に成功しました。
TearExo法を乳がん検出への活用を検討したきっかけは、治る病気で人が死ぬことに納得がいかないことが第一です。テレビで小林麻央さんの闘病の様子を見ていて、「助かったかもしれない」などと思っていると、実は身近なところで義母が乳がん全摘手術を受けていました。
またTearExo法がテレビで紹介されたあと、直接、退院後の抗がん治療中の患者の方々から、「臨床研究に参加したい」「いつ再発するのか心配なので、自宅でチェックできないか」などの真摯な訴えをいただくこともありました。
I have long conducted research using molecular imprinting technology—a technique that creates templates of specific molecules—to artificially replicate or harness the functions of biological systems. More recently, I successfully applied this technology to develop the TearExo method, a novel approach for detecting cancer through tears.
What initially drove me to explore the use of the TearExo method for breast cancer detection was a deep frustration with the idea that people still die from diseases that are, in many cases, treatable—if only detected early. While watching a television program about the late Mao Kobayashi’s battle with breast cancer, I found myself thinking, “Could she have been saved with earlier detection?” Around the same time, I learned that my own mother-in-law had undergone a full mastectomy due to breast cancer, making the issue suddenly very personal.
After the TearExo method was featured on television, I began receiving direct messages from patients undergoing post-operative cancer treatment. Some expressed a sincere desire to participate in clinical trials. Others shared their fears of recurrence and asked whether it might someday be possible to monitor their condition from home.
After the TearExo method was featured on television, I received heartfelt messages directly from patients undergoing post-operative cancer treatment.
They expressed a sincere desire to participate in clinical research, and some asked whether it might be possible to monitor for recurrence at home, saying things like, “I’m worried about when the cancer might come back” and “I want to take part in the study.”
我々の使命（Mission）
TearExo法は涙を使用して迅速かつ超高感度で、がん細胞から放出される「エクソソーム」を測定し、がんの有無を判定する方法です。
涙の採取は痛みが伴わないため受診者の負担が軽く、自己採取も可能なことから、病院に行く必要もなくなるかもしれません。
TeraExo法が実用化されれば、40%程度*に低迷している乳がん検診の受診率向上が期待され、乳がんの早期発見につながると期待されます。（*2年の期間で40歳以上の女性が受診した割合・国民生活基礎調査2019年）
また乳がんの治療を始められた方は、治療がいつまで続くのか、経過観察期間に入っても再発の不安もあります。不安を解消するためには、通院することなく再発リスクを自分で管理できる方法が必要ですが、現状はそのような方法はありません。
強く実用化研究を推し進め、より簡便にご自身で乳がんの検出ができるよう、また、病院内でも使用していただけるよう(独)医薬品医療機器総合機構(PMDA)から体外診断用医薬品としての承認を目指します。
TearExo法による乳がんのリスク管理により、乳がんと向き合う女性の皆様が、乳がんによる死の恐怖から解放されることを願って研究開発を行っていきたいと思います。これ以上、乳がんで命を落とす人を増やさないためにも、TearExo法の実用化に向けて研究を進めていきます。
株式会社TearExo 共同創業者一同
The TearExo method is a groundbreaking technology that uses tear fluid to rapidly and ultra-sensitively detect exosomes—tiny vesicles released from cancer cells—to determine the presence or absence of cancer.
Because tear collection is completely non-invasive and painless, it places minimal burden on individuals. It can even be self-administered, potentially eliminating the need to visit a hospital for testing.
Once TearExo is brought into practical use, it has the potential to significantly raise breast cancer screening rates, which currently remain at only around 40% in Japan (based on the 2019 National Livelihood Survey for women over 40 over a two-year period). This increase in screening coverage could lead to earlier detection and treatment of breast cancer.
For those already undergoing treatment, uncertainty looms over how long treatment will last and whether the cancer might return—even during follow-up observation periods. To help ease such anxieties, we believe it is essential to develop a method that allows individuals to manage their own risk of recurrence without needing to visit a hospital. At present, no such solution exists.
We are strongly committed to advancing the practical development of TearExo, aiming to make it accessible not only for at-home self-monitoring, but also for clinical use. To that end, we are working toward regulatory approval as an in vitro diagnostic product by Japan’s Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA).
Through TearExo-enabled breast cancer risk management, we hope to give women the means to face breast cancer with less fear and greater control. Our ultimate goal is to help liberate individuals from the fear of dying from a disease that is often treatable when caught early.
We, the co-founders of TearExo Inc., are fully dedicated to bringing this technology into reality and preventing more lives from being lost to breast cancer.
— The Co-Founders of TearExo Inc.