Search giant Google last year formed a company focused on tackling aging and other associated diseases, and now Sony is upping its commitment to breakthrough medicine after it announced a joint venture focused on advancing medical research using genetics in Japan.
The organization — which is called P5 and founded by Sony and Japanese medical giant M3 — will focus on assisting medical breakthroughs using genome research, a technique to establish the origins of diseases using genetics and other data, and developing new forms of medicines and methods of treatment.
“I’m very excited by the potential of this collaboration to deliver new services and breakthroughs that bring us ever closer to the realization of the personalized medicine and healthcare era,” said Tadashi Saito, who heads up Sony’s medical business. “We aim to facilitate genome research that further advances Japanese medical care, and in the future establish a new service platform for the medical industry.”
P5, which is backed by 118.75 million Yen ($1.1 billion) in capital, is expected to launch by the end of February 2014. The organization will be headquartered in Tokyo.
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Headline image via TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty Images
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