Sysmex Corporation (HQ: Kobe, Japan; Chairman and CEO: Hisashi Ietsugu) and OPTiM Corporation (HQ: Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan; President: Shunji Sugaya) have announced a basic agreement to establish a joint venture for the planning, development, and operation of solution services utilizing platforms and applications related to digital medicine, with the aim of accelerating the commercialization of digital medicine.
In recent years, advances in genome-related medical research have led to the rapid clarification of relationships between disease and genetic information. As a result, by understanding patient differences and abnormalities at the genetic level, it may become possible to provide personalized medicine and prognosis management for such diseases, as well as to enable medical support that takes into account other disease risks patients may have.
In response, the need is rapidly growing for digital medicine comprising platforms and applications for the management of information from the time a patient is healthy throughout the process (the “patient journey”) of testing and diagnosis after contracting a disease, treatment, preventing the disease from recurring or worsening, and eventually on to the terminal phase.
In the area of advanced medicine, Sysmex and OPTiM formed a business alliance in February 2019 and have been collaborating on initiatives to combine Sysmex’s extensive expertise and global sales and service network in the medical field with OPTiM’s “OPTiM Cloud IoT OS” and other AI and IoT services and technologies. Through this alliance, we aim to use the information obtained by connecting medical devices over networks, and analyzing the data using AI employing open platforms for the early-stage development and global rollout of new medical IT solutions.
Specifically, in addition to the development and proof-of-concept testing of new diagnostic methods that combine image information from gene testing and AI analysis, we are using AI for image processing of the various data obtained from Sysmex analyzers. We are also considering support functions that combine AI and IoT for use in failure prediction.
Sysmex and OPTiM have now entered a basic agreement to establish a joint venture for the planning, development, and operation of solution services utilizing platforms related to digital medicine and applications backed by medical rationale, with the aim of accelerating the commercialization of digital medicine to support next-generation healthcare and diagnostics.
In addition to providing these solutions, this joint venture will collaborate with pharmaceutical companies, manufacturers of medical devices, and other entities in the aim of creating ecosystems for medical IT solutions by placing on the platform medical applications provided by various companies.
The two companies aim to establish the joint venture in January 2020. We are moving forward with some pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers in discussions about mounting medical applications on the platform.
By maximizing the synergies between the two companies, Sysmex and OPTiM aim to contribute to advances in healthcare and the healthy lives of people by developing and commercializing solution services that utilize medical IT platforms employing advanced AI and IoT technology, and applications backed by medical rationale.
About Sysmex Corporation
In line with its mission of “shaping the advancement of healthcare,” which is defined in the “Sysmex Way,” the corporate philosophy for the Sysmex Group, Sysmex works to contribute to the development of healthcare and the healthy lives of people. Sysmex conducts integrated R&D, manufacturing and sales and provides support services for the instruments, reagents and software for in vitro testing of blood, urine and other samples. Sysmex supplies its products to medical institutions in more than 190 countries and regions throughout the world.
In recent years, Sysmex has been expanding its business in the life science domain, using proprietary technologies in an effort to create new testing and diagnostic value, realize healthcare that is optimized for individual patients, and help reduce patients’ burdens and enhance their quality of life.
About OPTiM Corporation
Under the concept of "We make the Net as simple as breathing," OPTiM aims to change the fact that, although the Internet has already become an essential part of our everyday life, there is still a certain IT literacy necessary to use it. Since its inception, OPTiM engages in developing products that allow everyone to benefit from the opportunities and convenience the Internet brings.
Through creating intellectual property by performing proactive research and development in new areas, OPTiM continuously creates new markets and innovations. OPTiM strives to create universal technology/services/business models that positively influence the life of people all over the world.
Information contained in the press release is current as of the date of the announcement, but may be subject to change without prior notice.