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 goal of creating a new life sciences era characterized
by genomic drug discoveries and personalized medicine, the
cooperative research effort initially will focus on the following
three specific areas:
- 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).
- 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.
- 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.
[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.
About Fujitsu
Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702) is a leading provider of Internet- based information technology solutions for the global marketplace. Comprising over 500 group companies and affiliates worldwide -- including ICL, Amdahl and DMR Consulting -- it had consolidated revenues of 5.26 trillion yen ($49.6 billion) in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2000. Fujitsu's pace-setting technologies, world-class computing and telecommunications platforms, and global corps of over 60,000 systems and services experts make it uniquely positioned to unleash the infinite possibilities of the Internet to help its customers succeed. Altogether, the Fujitsu Group has 188,000 employees and operations in over 100 countries.
Internet: http://www.fujitsu.com/