Hitachi intends to invest 300 billion yen ($2.7 billion) in the medical and healthcare sector research and development. It aims to find opportunities for mergers and acquisitions in those businesses by the end of fiscal 2023.
Hitachi will concentrate on investment and management resources in fields where data analysis technologies utilization. Especially in the risk estimation of contracting rare diseases and the development of regenerative medications. The transition is a part of the company’s plans to seek growth opportunities post-pandemic.
Half of the 300 billion yen is allocated for the business development fund for M&A. Hitachi lately invested in a startup specializing in biomedicine. The firm intends to accelerate in-house technology development by financing 100 billion yen in R&D.
Hitachi expects to develop its medical and health care products market to around 360 billion yen by fiscal 2024, up 70% from sales guesstimates for fiscal 2021.
The company has sold its diagnostic imaging business, including CT and MRI, to Fuji Film Holdings. The holdings acquired 100% ownership of Hitachi High-Tech Corp. that holds measurement and analysis technologies. It is a part of Hitachi’s attempt to shift its business focus from hardware to software.
Hitachi seeks to raise sales from its in vitro diagnosis-related business to 200 billion yen. The goal is to develop molecular diagnostics that detect signs of cancers by analyzing genes in a small amount of blood. Hitachi also intends to build artificial intelligence that can aid to monitor and grow stem cells.
The company will also accelerate collaboration with distinct companies within its group. Most importantly, it expects to develop cancer treatment technologies by using shared knowledge. It is also developing its business to support pharmaceutical companies in effectively producing drugs. It aspires to boost sales in this segment to 100 billion yen.
Moreover, the company wants to create a database infrastructure that integrates data and disperses it amongst the hospitals. To do this, Hitachi is planning a system infrastructure development project aimed at creating a central storage system for electronic medical records.
According to the U.S. research company Grand View Research, the global personalized medicinal market shows a forecast rate of a compound annual growth rate of 6.2%. It could reach a value of $796.8 billion by 2028. The competition in this domain is fierce. Toshiba plans to start trials of its technologies in the early diagnoses of distinct cancers from a dab of blood.