Rakuten Medical targets U.S. market with light-based cancer treatment

Rakuten Medical, a biotech subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Rakuten, is focusing approximately 95% of its resources on entering the United States market. The San Diego-headquartered company is currently conducting Phase 3 clinical trials for its photoimmunotherapy treatment, aiming for an FDA submission in 2028.

The technology, which CEO Minami Maeda describes as a “lightsaber” approach, uses a proprietary drug called Akalux combined with the Alluminox technology platform. The process involves a drug that binds to cancer cells and tags them with a light-activated dye, allowing red light to selectively target and destroy the cells. While currently used for head and neck cancers in Japan, the company intends to expand its application to all solid tumors.

The core technology originated from an accidental discovery in 2011 by Japanese scientist Hisataka Kobayashi and his team at the U.S. National Cancer Institute, who found that the method used to visualize cancer cells could also effectively treat them.