Fujitsu Ltd. (TYO:6702) has announced that it will move forward with IT-Soyaku, a new computer technology for in silico drug design, as part of the company’s plan to expand its health care operations. The software uses calculations to optimize the usually costly and time-consuming drug discovery process, analyzing the structure of a small-molecule compound drug...
Pharma
JSR Will Buy Swiss Selexis to Expand Biopharma Business
JSR Corp. (TYO:4185) has announced plans to acquire Selexis SA, a company with specialized cell line generation technology. The Swiss firm undertakes contract development of cell lines needed to manufacture biopharmaceuticals. Its technology facilitates the swift generation of cell lines able to efficiently and stably cultivate virtually any recombinant protein. JSR owns a biopharmaceutical contract...
Nipro Mulls M&A to Grow Own-Brand Generic Drugs Lineup
Nipro Corp. (TYO:8086) CEO and President Yoshihiko Sano recently revealed that following the acquisition of Tanabe Seiyaku Hanbai Co. Ltd., the company is now considering M&A deals in the area of generic drugs. Nipro is aiming to acquire the generics business of a domestic manufacturer or the manufacturing and distribution rights for its generics and...
Nearly 20 Drug Companies Now Share Quality Control Info in PEGASS
Japanese drug makers have begun sharing quality control information on pharmaceutical excipients. About two years ago, seven companies established the Pharmaceutical Excipients GMP Audit Sharing System (PEGASS) for jointly contracting out good manufacturing practices (GMP) audits of excipient laboratories to an outside organization. Nearly 20 companies have now joined PEGASS, and they have begun sharing...
Satake Chemical Equipment to Launch World’s First Industrial iPSC Mass-Production System
Satake Chemical Equipment Mfg. Ltd. will introduce to market the world’s first equipment capable of mass-producing induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells for industrial use in regenerative medicine. The equipment can mass-produce uniform iPS cells through a single-use iPS cell differentiation induction culture apparatus. Development of iPS cell differentiation induction equipment has been progressing in several...
Philips Pursues Global Health Care Solutions in Japan
Philips Electronics Japan Ltd., a subsidiary of Koninklijke Philips NV, is seeking to develop global health care solutions from Japan. The plan is to network an array of medical equipment through Internet of Things (IoT) technology, then leverage AI to analyze the harvested big data. The company will also go beyond just solutions catering to...
Japan Biosimilar Association Raises Concerns Over Biopharmaceutical AGs
The Japan Biosimilar Association (JBSA) recently submitted its view on biopharmaceutical authorized generics (bio-AGs) to the Health Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s (MHLW) director of economics. JBSA’s report emphasized concerns regarding the negative impact that bio-AGs could have on the R&D and popularization of biosimilars. Such a development, the association...
Kobe University to Help Establish Center for Training Monoclonal Antibody Professionals
Kobe University is helping start up an initiative to support the training of professionals in the field of biopharmaceuticals. Japan produces few feasible biological monoclonal antibodies compared to Korea and Western countries, and also faces a shortage of experienced talent. Kobe University and its partners plan to establish a general incorporated association this summer to...
Sumitomo Bakelite Launches Steerable Microcatheter in US
Sumitomo Bakelite Co. Ltd. (TYO:4203) has launched its steerable microcatheter in the U.S. market. A mainstay of Sumitomo Bakelite’s medical products business division, the product is the world’s only microcatheter whose tip can be steered by remote control. It is mainly used in transarterial embolization (TAE) and transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) procedures to treat liver cancer....
Mitsui Takes Equity in Russia’s R-Pharm to Become Strategic Partner
Mitsui & Co. Ltd. (TYO:8031) has entered into a strategic partnership with JSC R-Pharm, the largest pharmaceutical company in Russia. Mitsui will acquire 10 percent of R-Pharm’s shares for roughly 20 billion yen ($179.38 million). Leveraging this capital investment, Mitsui will support R-Pharm in introducing new drugs from Japanese pharmaceutical manufacturers as it aims to...
Toray to Promote Early Cancer Detection Tech in US
Toray Industries Inc. (TYO:3402) has established a development base on the west coast of the U.S. as part of an effort to popularize blood test technology that can detect early stage cancer through the use of a DNA microarray. The technology is drawing international attention, and Toray intends to expand its business based around the...
Sumitomo Bakelite Enters Biliary Stent Market
Sumitomo Bakelite Co. Ltd. (TYO:4203) is entering the market for endoscopic biliary stents. The company this month has begun Japanese sales of South Korean S&G Biotech Inc.’s EGIS biliary stent, and plans to continue moving aggressively into biliary stents and other devices for endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). The company is looking to strengthen its business...
Fujifilm Develops 3D Vascular Mapping Technology
Fujifilm Holdings Corp. (TYO:4901) recently announced that it has developed software for 3D mapping of blood vessels for use in interventional radiology and other catheter surgical procedures. The system works in ways similar to car navigation systems, choosing a catheter route calculated to cause the least harm and discomfort to the patient. The software will...
Sumitomo Bakelite to Acquire Medical Device Business From Innomedics
Sumitomo Bakelite Co. Ltd. (TYO:4203) plans to bolster its presence in the surgical field by acquiring a medical device business. Sumitomo Bakelite has agreed to acquire the surgical drainage system business of Innomedics Medical Instruments Inc., a leading Japanese medical device supplier based in Bunkyo-ku Ward, Tokyo. The deal is for an undisclosed sum and...
National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, GE Healthcare Tie up in Hospital Systems
The National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center (NCVC) and GE Healthcare Japan Corp. signed a comprehensive partnership agreement on March 30 to promote open innovation. The two parties will conduct joint research using NCVC’s wealth of data in cardiovascular and cerebral diseases, as well as establish a next-generation hospital system built on GE Healthcare’s digital technology....
Tokyo University, Kyowa Hakko Kirin Begin Research to Create iPSC-Derived White Blood Cells
Professor Mineo Kurokawa of the University of Tokyo’s Department of Hematology and Oncology has begun working with a research group from Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co. Ltd. (TYO:4151) on a study to create neutrophil, a type of white blood cell, from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The joint effort aims to formulate iPSC-derived neutrophils so that...
Abi Moves Into Medical Sector With Cell-Freezing Technology
Abi Co. Ltd. aims to expand into the medical and industrial sectors with its Cells Alive System (CAS) technology, which uses magnetism to align water molecules. The Chiba Prefecture firm has already achieved some success in the food industry. CAS uses magnetic energy to vibrate water molecules, minimizing the size of the ice crystals formed...
Fujifilm Creates Genome-Edited Epidermis Model, Replicates Changes Caused by Age
Fujifilm Holdings Corp. (TYO:4901) announced on March 23 that it has produced a 3D epidermis model from genome-edited human epidermal cells. The new model is capable of replicating age-related skin changes. As well as applying the new technology to the anti-aging skin care range that it plans to launch this autumn, Fujifilm intends to use...
Ono Pharmaceutical to Develop Small Molecules for Oncology Therapies
Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (TYO:4528) has announced the recent conclusion of a drug discovery agreement with Massachusetts-based X-Chem Inc. to discover applications for small molecules as oncological therapies. Ono Pharmaceutical will gain exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize any new lead compounds that come about through the partnership. X-Chem is a biotech firm that...
Mexico Sells Chayote to Japan as Genetic Resource
The Chemical Daily has learned that the Mexican government has approved the sale of the edible plant chayote with Japan as a genetic resource beginning this month. This is the first such sale of genetic resources from Mexico agreed to in line with the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing. The treaty obligates signatories...
