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| March 5, 2001 |
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Mitsubishi Chemical
and Fujitsu to Cooperate in Biotech Research
- Aim to Combine Information Technology and Biotech Expertise to Help Improve
Quality of Life - |
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Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation
Fujitsu Limited |
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Tokyo, March 5, 2001 -- Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation and Fujitsu Limited today
announced that they have agreed to cooperate in research and development efforts
combining two of the most important technological fields of the twenty-first century:
biotechnology and information technology. Their aim is to strengthen their existing
businesses and develop new business opportunities in this exciting new area.
Thanks to rapid developments in information technology, the world-renowned Human
Genome Project (1) is now five years ahead of schedule. As the project illustrates,
the merging of biotechnology and information technology has already begun, and
business in the biotechnology field is gathering speed and expanding.
As Japan's largest diversified chemicals company, Mitsubishi Chemical has a distinguished
track record in the fields of biotechnology, life sciences, chemicals, and materials.
Within the Mitsubishi Chemical Group, Mitsubishi Kasei Institute of Life Sciences
has been an especially prominent leader in Japan in biotechnology research and
development.
Fujitsu, for its part, is a global leader in providing information technology
solutions, and has long been active in leading-edge technology research and development
programs in such areas as high performance computing and bioinformatics
(2).
In effort to realize "personalized medicine,"(3)
biotech researchers around the world are focusing on how genes and proteins relate
to disease, and how genetic and environmental factors interact to determine an
individual's health profile and personal characteristics.
In this cooperative research project linking information technology with biotechnology,
Mitsubishi Chemical and Fujitsu seek to exploit the exciting business opportunities
in this field and to strengthen businesses in their respective core competencies
by capitalizing on new technology they develop through their research.
The two companies have already assembled a joint team whose responsibility is
to map out a detailed research agenda and develop a business plan for the new
cooperative venture within the next several months.
With the ultimate goal of creating a new life sciences company able to offer genomic
drug discoveries and personalized medicine, the cooperative research effort initially
will focus on the following three specific areas:
| 1) |
Taking as a strategic base the Mitsubishi Chemical Group's fundamental
research and intellectual property (IP) as well as technical fruits and knowledge
relating to the understanding of the phenomenon of human life, and making best
use of Fujitsu's advanced proprietary information technology, Mitsubishi Chemical
will focus on developing genomic drug discoveries (4). |
| 2) |
Fujitsu will focus on developing "post genomic
machines,"(5) super high-speed computers
capable of processing the enormous quantities of data required to support biotech
research, and will provide the platforms needed for the research effort, such
as high-performance computing and high-speed processing technology. In addition,
by bringing together Fujitsu's abundant intellectual property and systems technology
expertise and the Mitsubishi Chemical Group's experience in drug development,
clinical trials, and diagnostics, the two companies aim to strengthen their existing
businesses and develop new businesses in the medical and healthcare fields. |
| 3) |
The two companies regard the world-renowned research capabilities
of the Mitsubishi Kasei Institute of Life Sciences as an important asset for the
cooperative research venture, and they will formulate plans on how best to operate
the Institute and utilize its strengths to the fullest. |
Through the collaboration described above - which aims at supporting leading-edge
medical services such as preventive medical therapies -- Fujitsu and Mitsubishi
Chemical Group intend to help contribute to people's quality of life.
| For further information, please contact |
| Public Relations Dept., |
| Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation |
| Tel: [+81] 3-3283-5700 |
| Minoru Sekiguchi, Bob Pomeroy, Scott Ikeda |
| Fujitsu Limited (Tokyo) |
Tel: [+81] 3-3215-5236
Fax: [+81] 3-3216-5236
E-mail: pr@fujitsu.com |
<Technical Glossary>
| 1. |
International Human Genome Project |
|
An international project to decode the approximately 3 billion
sets of DNA that exist in the human genome. Begun in 1990 as a 15-year project,
with researchers in the U.S., Europe and Japan as the main participants. Thanks
to improved technology, completion of the project was speeded up. |
| 2. |
Bioinformatics |
|
A field of technology that combines biotechnology and information
technology (IT). Refers to the technique whereby IT is used to process the large
volumes of data obtained from life science experiments in order to extract information
that is useful for both academic knowledge and industrial applications, such as
new drug development. |
| 3. |
Personalized medicine |
|
Medical treatment that is matched to the individual. Up to now,
patients exhibiting the same symptoms have been given the same drug and the same
dosage. However, with personalized medicine, small differences in the patient's
genetic makeup are taken into account, enabling advance judgment about a medication's
effectiveness and possible side effects. |
| 4. |
Genomic drug discovery |
|
A drug discovery method whereby the genes and proteins related
to a certain disease are elucidated and drug development proceeds after a new
drug is targeted, by utilizing information about genomes, as well as genes and
proteins. |
| 5. |
Post genomic machine |
|
Refers to computer systems used for post-genomic research, which
can rapidly process large volumes of bio-information. |
* All company/product names mentioned may be trademarks or registered trademarks
of their respective holders and are used for identification purposes only.
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