The new centre, being developed at the Tokyo University Medical Hospital, will provide mass spectrometry-based contract biomarker discovery, development and analysis services.
Murray Wigmore, Thermo Fisher’s Japan spokesman explained that: “In Japan there is an urgent need to develop more targeted disease detection and treatments for a rapidly growing patient population.
COPD, lung cancer and cardiovascular disease, the incidence of which is high in Japan will be a research focus, although the hope is that the centre will provide a forum for collaboration between researchers worldwide.
US-based Thermo Fisher has modelled the unit on the Biomarker Research Initiatives in Mass Spectrometry (BRIMS) centre that its Thermo Electron division set in partnership with the Massachusetts General Hospital in 2004.
In June the US BRIMS unit was the subject of a partnership agreement with contract biomarker services provider NextGen Sciences focused on use of the latter firm’s protein expression platform.
In addition to forming similar partnerships, the Tokyo centre will provide storage capacity for tissue and blood samples collections from trials conducted in Europe and elsewhere.
The announcement of the Japanese project follows a few weeks after Thermo Fisher expanded its drug research business with the acquisition of Canadian technology firm Fermentas International for a reported $260m (€199m).
Service biz Q2 Op Inc up
In other news, Thermo Fisher reported a relatively healthy set of second quarter financials
For the three months ended July 3, Thermo Fisher’s operating income was $312m, up nearly 12 per cent on the equivalent period last year.
The firm’s laboratory products and services business, which will run the new Tokyo project, saw operating income increase 14 per cent to $238m, with revenues growing 63.4 per cent to $1.6bn.
CEO Marc Casper said: “We continue to strengthen our depth of capabilities through investments in technology development and complementary acquisitions that position us to better serve our customers in growing markets.”
However despite these positive comments, the firm cut its revenue guidance for the year to $10.60 to $10.75bn from $10.65 to $10.80bn, citing cost of acquisitions and foreign currency impacts as the basis for its move.