Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501) today announced to create a new corporate division named the
Life Science Group. Scheduled for establishment on October 1, the Division's job will be to
ensure timely launching of new biotechnology businesses in a market Hitachi believes to
have strong growth potential. It will be headed by its own CEO and be delegated broad
authority as a substantially independent operation within the Hitachi Group. The Division
will be responsible for making sure Hitachi takes the lead in starting up new biotech
businesses and secures a dominant position in the market.
Seen as one of the strategic technologies of the 21st century, biotechnology has become an
intense focus of R&D worldwide. Medicine, food, agriculture, forestry, chemistry and the
environmental issues are just a few of the areas expected to see expanded applications. In
the United States, for instance, industry, academia and government have been moving
jointly ahead with various types of genetic research, most notably a project to decode the
human genome. These activities have had a perceptible invigorating effect on U.S. industry.
In Japan, a basic national biotechnology policy has been formulated to coordinate the
efforts of corporations, universities and government agencies as they put in place the
foundation for a broad range of large-scale projects. This program and the projects it
generates are in turn expected to stimulate countless new initiatives, especially in medicine,
food, agriculture and other fields that will strongly affect the future health and prosperity of
people everywhere. Predictions are that the market for biotechnology-related products and
services in Japan will grow to Y25 trillion by 2010, and create a vast number of new jobs in
the process.
Hitachi has been actively involved in the life sciences from and early stage. For example,
Hitachi's laboratories have long been engaged in various aspects of biotechnological
research, including DNA analysis and data processing, gene and protein functional analysis
technologies, and medical and environmental instrumentation. The Instruments group
markets DNA sequencers, liquid chromatographs and other sophisticated biotechnological
devices, while the Information Systems group is a world-class developer of supercomputer,
large-scale data processing technologies using parallel computers, and data mining software.
Substantial advances in biotechnology can no longer be achieved through a fragmented
approach. Integration of the different disciplines, from basic research to instrumentation and
data processing, has become indispensable for the development of new, sophisticated
technologies. Hitachi's strategy is to bring all of its diverse biotechnological resources in to
tight focus so as to optimize technology development and speed up the launching of new
businesses.
One key function of the Life Science Group will be to utilize the technologies that come
out of these projects to develop products and services that will propel Hitachi into a leading
position in the market. Another will be to help companies in sectors like pharmaceuticals,
foods, agriculture, forestry and chemicals to develop advanced biotechnologies and
equipment. At the start, the Division will concentrate on offering customers tightly
integrated information and support services encompassing DNA analysis, database, and
gene function analysis. Hitachi is committed to expanding the scope of its operations in this
sector and through this to offer an ever wider range of life science services that will help to
build an increasingly healthy, prosperous, environment-friendly society.
The CEO of Life Science Group will have the authority to make substantially all decisions
related to investment, intercompany tie-ups, personnel and other important matters. Hitachi
sees this as the best way to bring the Group up to full potential in the shortest time possible.
The Group is also to have a CSO (Chief Scientific Officer) to serve as a coordinator of
technical affairs responsible.
As a vigorous new member of the Hitachi Group, the Life Science Group will be steadily
strengthening ties with venture businesses and customer companies as it moves to become
a major force in the growth of Japan's biotechnology industry.
Plans call for an investment of around Y6,000 million in the new group over a three-year
period. The Division is to start with a staff of about 60 persons recruited mainly from
Research Laboratories, the Instruments group and the Information Systems group.
Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading global
electronics companies, with fiscal 1998 (ended March 31, 1999) consolidated sales of
7,977 billion yen ($65.9 billion*). The company manufactures and markets a wide
range of products, including computers, semiconductors, consumer products and
power and industrial equipment. For more information on Hitachi, Ltd., please visit
Hitachi's Web site at http://www.hitachi.co.jp.
* At an exchange rate of 121 yen to the dollar.
Life Science Group
Establishment: October 1, 1999
CEO: Hiroya Taguchi Ph. D.
CSO: Takao Iwayanagi Ph. D.
Personnel: 60 at start. 200 in 2002
Sales target: Y15 billion in 2002. Y200 billion in 2010.
Business lines: Large-scale DNA analysis services
Analysis services in specific genetic fields
DNA Database service
Gene function analyses
and informatics support services
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