Newsweek International 7/16-7/23/2021

“In 2025, we will celebrate our 50th anniversary. My hope is that by then our J-Brain Cargo® technology will be adopted globally.”Shin Ashida, Founder & CEO of JCR Since its establishment in 1975, JCR has been working on proprietary technology developments with the aim of contributing towards people’s healthcare globally through pharmaceutical products. Early establishment of these research activities, considerably earlier than its Japanese peers, has led to the development of pioneering biotherapeutics which utilize its proprietary protein engineering technologies. “We began as an R&D-centered enterprise, mainly focused on extractable biological products. However, right from the start, we were mindful of improving purification techniques and advancing towards recombinant DNA technology,” explains Shin Ashida, Chairman, President, CEO and Founder of JCR. “With that vision in mind, we deployed our researchers and…

“We would like to produce higher functional products moving forward that will be related to pharmaceutical and biomedical research.”Shoichi Kimura, President, FUKAE KASEI CO., LTD. At the global level, monozukuri, the craftsmanship philosophy that underpins high-tech Japanese manufacturing, is often associated with Japan’s corporate giants like Toyota .But monozukuri also forms the core of Japanese SMEs, which have excelled in niche areas of manufacturing thanks to their technological and R&D prowess, and an innate ability to listen and respond to customer needs. Since its establishment, Fukae Kasei has specialized in the manufacturing of plastic laboratory equipment for life science research, which it supplies to labs worldwide through its globally renowned Watson brand. Embracing the spirit of monozukuri and kaizen (continuous improvement), this Kobe-based firm has dealt with many challenging requests…

For more than a century, two-piece hard capsules have been one of the most effective and widely-used methods of drug delivery, marked by a history of continuous evolution to meet the changing demands of the industry and consumers. As a globally leading manufacturer of two-piece hard capsules and pharmaceutical processing equipment with more than 120 years of experience, Qualicaps has and continues to play a crucial role in that evolution thanks to the pioneering innovation that has enabled the company to develop several world-first products, such as the first-ever preservative-free gelatin capsule. With the latest industry and consumer demands prompting a shift away from capsules made from materials derived from animal products, Qualicaps has responded by launching several new animal-free solutions to the market, including: Quali-V, the world’s first vegetal…

“The environment surrounding our field is changing a lot. We are trying to adapt to these changes and incorporate them into our technology.” Established in 1964 in Osaka, Japan, Yuyama specializes in the field of medical and pharmaceutical automation, supplying a wide range of high-quality automated equipment to pharmacies, hospitals and long-term care facilities in Japan and around the world. It is the largest Pharmacy Automation Company worldwide and was the first company to introduce an automatic dividing packaging machine to the market. Yuyama continues to grow its presence on the international market and has been present in the United States since 1996. Today, more than 2,200 of its machines are being used across the US. Automation has long been a key strength of Japanese industry and Yuyama has successfully…

Japanese companies are renowned for developing niche technologies which play a key role in the international supply chain, and nowhere is this more the case than in its pioneering medical and pharmaceutical sector. “To establish a fully automated production line, it requires a high level of technological and engineering expertise. It also requires a lot of time and resources to train the engineers,” explains Sano Yoshihiko, President of Nipro Corporation – the global medical equipment and supplies conglomerate headquartered in Japan. “In Japan, we are deeply rooted to the concept of Sampoyoshi, which means we are good at developing the quality of our products and technology over a long period of time. With this business mindset, Japan is strong when it comes to the improvements in production, compared to many…

“We shape a more comfortable society through the Value of Tsutsumu.” ZACROS’ 107-year history is one of challenge. We have been striving to meet the superior quality requirements of the healthcare field, one of our core businesses. In 1988, we became one of the first companies in the world to receive approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for plastic drug solution packaging materials. This made it possible for us to supply our distinctive products to the global market. At that time, injectables were usually distributed in glass bottles, but the fact that glass was heavy, bulky, and easily damaged was an issue. The light-weight and flexible plastics seemed the perfect solution to these concerns, but had not been adopted yet due to the problem of extractables and…