Jan 18th - Sony, Canon,Panasonic, Toshiba, Murata, Rohm, and other Japanese electronics firms are aiming to expand their medical equipment businesses by offering cutting-edge products that take advantage of their advanced technologies.

Electronics Makers Bolstering Medical Equipment Ops.

Canon has been making X-ray machines and fundoscopy devices by making use of its sensor and image-processing technologies.

With the goal of boosting sales of its CCD (charge-coupled device) cameras, image monitors and other medical-use products, Sony created a medical-solution business section as of Jan. 1.

The company plans to develop an endoscopic camera that utilizes a CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) image sensor to deliver better image resolutions than the conventional endoscopic cameras based on CCDs. In addition to supplying CMOS cameras to endoscope makers, Sony aims to develop CMOS-based endoscopes by teaming up with other medical equipment manufacturers.

Sony also plans to launch medical-use OEL (organic electroluminescent) monitors to offer sharper images than LCD monitors.

Canon is developing an optical ultrasound diagnostic device for early cancer detection. The ultrasound readings from the lasers emitted by the machine will be used to find cancers in early stages, while placing less of a burden on patients' bodies than X-ray machines. The company aims to commercialize the device as a mammography machine by 2015.

Canon has been making X-ray machines and fundoscopy devices by making use of its sensor and image-processing technologies. The company aims to turn medical equipment into one of its business pillars, with a goal of tripling sales of such equipment to 100 billion yen by 2015.

Meanwhile, Panasonic Corp. and Toshiba Corp. are considering utilizing their 3-D imaging technologies in surgery simulation and image diagnosis.

Among electronic parts makers, Murata Mfg. Co. plans to sell as early as this year a compact sensor that monitors heartbeat, blood oxygen levels and other vital signs for use in mobile phones and pedometers.

Rohm Co. teamed up with Ushio Inc. and others to release a blood testing system that utilizes semiconductor technology in 2008.

The global medical equipment market is forecast to grow to be worth around 40 trillion yen by 2020, up from roughly 20 trillion yen in 2009. Aside from the strong growth potential, medical equipment offers more stable earnings than the consumer electronics market.

Nov 23rd -Eisai Co. will start manufacturing drugs in the UK in early 2011

Eisai To Make Aricept Tablets At U.K. Plant

Eisai will produce Aricept tablets in the U.K.

Eisai Co. will use its facility in the U.K. to manufacture the finished tablet formulation of its blockbuster Alzheimer's drug Aricept beginning in early 2011.

To better control production costs after the European patents on Aricept expire in 2012, Eisai will stop outsourcing production and start making the tablets at its strategic European base the firm set up in the U.K. in 2009.

The U.K. location has a manufacturing plant capable of formulating 400 million tablets a year, and it will make Aricept tablets from the bulk active ingredients imported from Eisai's plant in Ibaraki Prefecture.

In the future, Eisai will also use its U.K. base to manufacture other finished drugs as a means of controlling costs.

Oct 19th - Japanese Hospitals Aim To Shorten Cancer Drug Trials

A total of 377Japanese  hospitals nationwide will later this year join forces in an effort to halve the time needed to conduct clinical trials for cancer drugs.

The collaboration will include jointly conducting tests and standardizing procedures. The National Cancer Center will head the effort, supported by hospitals designated by the government as playing a key role in treating cancer patients.

Currently, clinical trials for cancer drugs typically take two to three years in Japan. Because of the long wait, Japanese patients are sometimes unable to get treatments already available overseas.

Another medical M&A by Japanese firm

Japanese medical companies continue their acquisition wave, with dialysis equipment maker Nipro saying tha it would buy diabetes test device company Home Diagnostics for approximately US$125m. This is a 90% premium over HD's previous closing price, and the deal involves a cash buy-out.