TOKYO, Dec 8, 2017 – Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501) and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TSE:6503) today announced that they have signed an agreement to transfer Mitsubishi Electric’s particle therapy system business to Hitachi and integrate to one entity. After their negotiation and the review and approval from the relevant authorities, the design, manufacturing, sales, maintenance services relevant to Mitsubishi Electric’s particle therapy system business will be merged into Hitachi, currently scheduled for April 2018.
Particle therapy is being noticed as one of the effective treatment methods due to the side effects of treatment are few compared with other cancer treatment methods such as surgical treatment and rehabilitation after treatment is also relatively fast. There are currently more than 70 particle therapy system facilities in operation worldwide and the numbers are rapidly increasing since 2013 expecting that over 10 facilities will be newly constructed each year. In Japan, proton therapy for pediatric cancer and heavy particle radiation treatment for bone and soft tissue tumor have been recognized and accepted as one of the cancer treatment methods as it has been approved to be covered by national insurance since April 2016.
Hitachi received an order from 13 prestigious hospitals in Japan, North America and Asia for the particle therapy system, of which 8 facilities are in operation. Hitachi provides superior particle therapy systems over the world. More than 16,000 patients have been treated with the systems and Hitachi has established a reputation of high reliability with a proven track record. In addition, Hitachi continues to make particle therapy systems popular by joint research about radiation therapy with an advanced cancer hospital in America.
Mitsubishi Electric supplies the particle therapy system for 9 of the 17 medical institutions where particle therapy and clinical research are conducted in Japan. Mitsubishi Electric has made particle therapy popular by supporting operation such as staff training to operate particle therapy systems and communication among medical institutions as well as providing systems.
Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric both agree that it is necessary to enhance product competitiveness through integration of development and resources, and to provide products and services with higher performance with higher added value as the particle therapy expands globally. After numerous consideration, the parties concluded that integration through business transfer to Hitachi, which is developing a wide range of healthcare businesses, is the best option, and thus have come to an agreement. Hitachi will utilize the technology with their experience in particle therapy system and contribute in providing cutting edge radiation therapy.
