Sysmex Opens New R&D Facility with a View toward the Realization of Personalized Medicine
Sysmex Corporation (HQ: Kobe, Japan; Chairman and CEO: Hisashi Ietsugu) has opened a new R&D facility within its Kawasaki INnovation Gateway at SKYFRONT1 in the city of Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, to pursue R&D in bioinformatics2, a key technology toward the realization of personalized medicine.
Bioinformatics, medical informatics and information technology that comprehensively analyze individuals’ test information, including gene information, as well as information on medical care, are important in the realization of personalized medicine. In this field of technology, further advances are expected due to the rapid technological innovation of recent years, including progress in artificial intelligence and other areas.
To reinforce its R&D related to information technology, centered on bioinformatics, Sysmex has established a new R&D facility, the Skyfront Research Campus, at the Life Innovation Center, located within the Kawasaki INnovation Gateway at SKYFRONT. The Tonomachi area of Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, is home to a cluster of leading-edge life science companies and research institutions. In establishing an R&D facility there, Sysmex aims to facilitate collaboration with R&D institutions, universities and companies in the region, as well as within the Kanto area.
The facility features a sophisticated information security environment that allows medical big data to be handled safely. In this environment, Sysmex will conduct R&D involving the medical applications of artificial intelligence technology, systems biology3, complex systems theory4 and other leading-edge information technologies.
This facility is located in the same building as the RIKEN GENESIS Innovation Genome Center5 of RIKEN GENESIS Co., Ltd. (HQ: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, Japan; President & CEO: Naoto Kondo), a Sysmex subsidiary. We plan to further reinforce ties with this company, particularly in relation to gene information analysis.
Going forward, Sysmex will continue to pursue R&D aimed at providing the high-value testing necessary to realize healthcare optimized for each individual patient.
Overview of the R&D Facility
Name: Skyfront Research Campus (SFRC)
Location: Within the Life Innovation Center, Kawasaki INnovation Gateway at SKYFRONT (3-25-22, Tonomachi, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture)
Floor space: 418 m2
Start of operations: June 2017
Terminology
- Kawasaki INnovation Gateway at SKYFRONT: An open innovation hub located within the Life Innovation in Keihin Coastal Areas International Strategy Comprehensive Special Zone, where companies involved in the life sciences gather. Based on national government growth strategy, the hub is eligible for support, including the easing of regulations, with a view to establishing innovative business models. Situated along the Tamagawa River opposite Haneda Airport, the hub is ten minutes away from the airport by car.
- Bioinformatics: Information technology that analyzes genetic and protein information to explain Biological function and phenotype; in particular, signifying the technology for analyzing relationships between genetic information and disease.
- Systems biology: Technology using mathematical modeling to reproduce and predict the complex and interactive reactions and functions within living organisms. This technology is expected to develop applications for predicting drug effects and other areas.
- Complex systems theory: A theory involving biological and other systems comprising numerous elements, studying how the complex behaviors of parts of a system affect the collective system, and how the collective system affects its parts.
- Reference: See the April 6, 2017, press release entitled “RIKEN GENESIS Establishes RIKEN GENESIS Innovation Genome Center to Provide Lab-Assay Services for Genetic Testing,” at http://www.sysmex.co.jp/en/corporate/news/2017/170406.html
Information contained in the press release is current as of the date of the announcement, but may be subject to change without prior notice.
