Shonan iPark Expands Global Reach: New LabCentral Partnership Announced at the 2025 Global Showcase

Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan and Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA – October 7, 2025 –
Shonan Health Innovation Park (Shonan iPark), Japan’s first pharmaceutical-initiated science park, announced a new strategic partnership with LabCentral, the premier Massachusetts-based network of coworking laboratories designed to accelerate high-potential biotech startups. The announcement was made during the Shonan iPark Global Showcase, held ahead of BioJapan 2025, the nation’s largest biotechnology event.

The Global Showcase gathered nearly 60 companies from 12 countries seeking to form partnerships and collaborations across Asia. With over 300,000 square meters of facilities, 190+ members, and more than 2,500 innovators, Shonan iPark continues to solidify its position as Japan’s leading hub for open innovation in life sciences. The Global Showcase highlighted the park’s growing international engagement and served as the platform for unveiling this new initiative with LabCentral.

Through the partnership, selected startup teams from the Shonan iPark network will participate in a three-month educational residency program hosted at LabCentral in Kendall Square, Cambridge, one of the world’s most dynamic biotech clusters. Participants will take part in executive training programs focused on life science entrepreneurship, commercialization strategy, and U.S. market access. The program also offers exposure to LabCentral’s innovation community, including its 70+ sponsor organizations, and provides opportunities for startups to connect with industry peers, investors, mentors, and leading pharmaceutical partners. In addition, one company will be selected for a specialized six-week mentoring program offering tailored guidance to support global business expansion.

The collaboration between Shonan iPark and LabCentral will extend beyond the residency program. Both organizations will co-host the Shonan Health Innovation Conference (SHIC) 2025, the second annual event designed to connect Japanese startups with potential partners and investors in the Cambridge ecosystem.

Commenting on the collaboration, Toshio Fujimoto, President and CEO of Shonan iPark Institute, said:
“Shonan iPark is pleased to partner with LabCentral, which has built a strong network supporting early-stage life science ventures in Kendall Square. This collaboration creates new opportunities for participating companies and advances our mission to further strengthen Japan’s drug discovery ecosystem.”

Maggie O’Toole, CEO of LabCentral, added: “We are honored to partner with Shonan iPark and welcome their entrepreneurs to Cambridge. Shonan iPark continues to be a catalyst for innovation in Japan, and together we aim to help promising therapies and technologies move from the laboratory to the patient.”

About iPark Institute Co., Ltd.

iPark Institute Co., Ltd. was established in 2023 with Industrial & Infrastructure Fund Investment Corporation (IIF), Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Takeda), and Mitsubishi Corporation as major shareholders. It took over the management of Shonan Health Innovation Park (Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture) in 2023,

About Shonan Health Innovation Park (Shonan iPark)

Shonan iPark is Japan’s first pharmaceutical-initiated science park, created by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited in April 2018 by opening its own research laboratories to the outside world. Currently operated by iPark Institute Co., Ltd. independent of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, the park aims to become a place where industry, government, and academia from a wide range of industries and sizes can come together to accelerate health innovation. Currently, the ecosystem is comprised of not only pharmaceutical companies, but also companies and organizations in next generation medicine, cellular agriculture, AI, and government, with approximately 190 companies and more than 2,500 people (as of September(2025).

About LabCentral

A private, non-profit institution, LabCentral is a launchpad for high-potential life-sciences and biotech start-ups with more than 200,000 square feet of space across Kendall Square in Cambridge, Mass., and the Harvard University campus. Founded in 2013, LabCentral offers a full complement of programming and networking to life sciences entrepreneurs in addition to fully permitted laboratory and office space for early-stage and growing life sciences companies. In its first eleven years, LabCentral residents raised more than $20 billion in funding and created more than 7,000 jobs. More information is available at www.labcentral.org.

Contacts:

Shonan iPark: Naoko Sugita | [email protected] | +81-90-2550-5765

LabCentral: Allison Parker | [email protected] | +1.781.354.6440

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GeneOnline