Towards Creation of Groundbreaking Disease Therapeutics with Lactic Acid Bacteria Exosomes (Extracellular Vesicles; EVs). LAB Biotech Initiates Joint Research for Novel Ophthalmic Drug Discovery.

LAB Biotech Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Sapporo, Hokkaido; President and CEO: Mutsumi Murakami; hereinafter, LAB Biotech) has entered into a comprehensive joint research agreement with De・Western Therapeutics Institute, Inc. (Headquarters: Nagoya, Aichi; President and CEO: Yuichi Hidaka; hereinafter 'DWTI'), a drug discovery venture with a track record of marketed products in the ophthalmic field. The agreement, effective April 1, 2026, aims to create ophthalmic therapeutics using exosome-like structures from lactic acid bacteria, known as extracellular vesicles (EVs; hereinafter, lactic acid bacteria EVs), with multiple projects anticipated.

The initiative to apply lactic acid bacteria EVs to the treatment of ophthalmic diseases is rare worldwide, marking the start of a full-scale project to pioneer the new field of 'Ophthalmology × Lactic Acid Bacteria EVs'.

■ Background of the Joint Research

The lactic acid bacteria EVs that LAB Biotech is researching have the following characteristics, which differ from the bacterial cells of lactic acid bacteria.

1. Reports of passing through the intestinal tract and the blood-brain barrier (BBB)

There are numerous reports that exosomes can pass through the intestinal tract and the BBB to move to other tissues. It is possible that lactic acid bacteria EVs have a similar mechanism, and their application as drug delivery carriers is anticipated.

2. Some lactic acid bacteria EVs work to suppress the induction of inflammation

Normally, the cell wall components of lactic acid bacteria induce inflammation. Therefore, it was difficult to apply lactic acid bacteria as a therapeutic drug for ophthalmic diseases. On the other hand