Ricoh.Announces Strategic Business Partnership with Elixirgen Scientific

TOKYO, Japan-June 19, 2019-Ricoh.Company, Ltd., (Tokyo, Japan) today announced it has entered into a strategic business partnership with Elixirgen Scientific, Inc., (Baltimore, Maryland, USA), to develop innovative biomedical products and services that support drug discovery based on cell differentiation^{* 1}technology.

Ricoh.and Elixirgen Scientific plan to grow this biomedical business into a 20-billion-yen ($186M) business by 2025.

两家公司将通过制造和递送从诱导多能干（IPS）细胞的细胞来支持药物发现^{* 2}，细胞芯片^{* 3.}seeded with precisely differentiated cells, and evaluation services for drug responses. As part of the agreement, Ricoh will acquire a 34.5 percent stake in Elixirgen Scientific and launch a biomedical business in North America this year.

Elixirgen Scientific owns Quick-Tissue™ technology^{* 4.}可以诱导IPS细胞和胚胎干细胞^{* 5.}直接对各种类型的细胞，该技术在短短10天内实现高效和均匀的细胞分化。预计疾病特异性IPS细胞意味着IPS细胞源于该疾病的患者，可用作药物筛选的疾病模型。由于本方法制造的分化细胞具有靠近成熟细胞的功能^{* 6.}，这些细胞显示出对这种疾病的表型非常好。Ricoh的BioPlinting Technology能够使用其喷墨头技术进行精确控制细胞的数量和放置，这在过去40年内已经完善。

HearyCare Business Group，Ricoh Company，Ltd.总经理Nobuhiro Gemma表示，“我们很激动为这项新的生物医学发展倡议的Elixirgen Scientific。通过将技术与我们两家公司的组合相结合，可以例如可以产生衍生自多个IPS细胞系的疾病特异性细胞芯片。这些细胞芯片可以在转向临床试验阶段之前一次评估化学品的人体反应的多样性。在药物发现的过程中，这种使用细胞芯片的方法将大大改善整个药物开发过程，因为在最早的阶段考虑了人类的多样性。“

Ricoh 12年前通过软件和服务进入医疗保健市场，以帮助解决老龄化社会产生的问题，以及其他业务效率的相应减少医疗费用。理光专注于解决社会挑战，例如与世界不同地区的医疗保健水平有关的人。在医疗保健领域，理光专注于三个学科：医疗解决方案，医学成像和生物医学。

“Ricoh has an established healthcare business with solutions such as its RICOH Regional Health Net; and in the medical imaging area, with its magnetoencephalography solution. We have also been developing technologies such as 3D Bioprinter and reference DNA plates, and with today's announcement, this agreement establishes Ricoh firmly as a player in the biomedical field,” added Nobuhiro Gemma.

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Quick-Coass™是Elixirgen Scientific，Inc的注册商标