TOKYO & WALTHAM, Mass.– BostonGene Corporation and NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) today announced a strategic global partnership agreement that will enable the companies to offer BostonGene Tumor PortraitTM Tests in key international markets, including Japan as the first market outside of the U.S.
BostonGene’s innovative computational platform performs AI-based molecular and immune profiling to discover correlations between tumor genomics, a patient’s immune system and the effectiveness of all available approved and experimental treatments. BostonGene Tumor Portrait™ Tests, based on integrated genomic and transcriptomic analysis, propel precision medicine into daily clinical practice and support physicians in actualizing personalized therapy for cancer patients.
Moreover, in NEC’s ongoing personalized neoantigen clinical trial that utilizes its AI-driven neoantigen prediction technology, NEC and BostonGene are collaborating to provide molecular characterization of patient tumors. Going forward, the two companies will jointly develop the market for BostonGene Tumor Portrait™ Tests globally. In Japan, the companies aim to utilize NEC’s healthcare and life science network in order to provide Tumor Portrait™ Tests to hospitals throughout the country.
In 2020, 378,385 people died of cancer in Japan, according to a Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare report. This accounts for 27.6% of all deaths that year and equates to one in four people dying of cancer. Leveraging NEC’s longstanding relationships with cancer centers, pharma and biotech companies, the organizations will work closely together to demonstrate the critical role of next generation multi-platform analytics combined with cutting-edge software to improve the diagnosis and treatment for cancer patients. Earlier this year, NEC announced an initiative to create healthcare and life science business that utilizes AI and other digital technologies as part of the “creation of future growth businesses” set forth in the 2025 Mid-term Management Plan.
“NEC has been committed to contributing to healthcare for more than half a century, which includes state-of-the-art hospital information systems in Japan. Cancer is now the country’s most common cause of death, and NEC has been working with the National Cancer Center Japan since 2016. Today, NEC remains as dedicated as ever to applying our rich experience in AI and analytics for improving patients’ outcomes,” said Takayuki Morita, President and CEO at NEC Corporation. “BostonGene’s offering of deep molecular and immune profiling, coupled with its computational power and analytics, have already improved the quality of care for cancer patients in both academic and community settings in the United States. Supporting BostonGene’s international expansion enables us to continue to rapidly drive innovation that improves the standard of care in Japan and abroad.”
“NEC has a long history of offering industry leading products and solutions in the field of healthcare both in Japan and globally,” said Andrew Feinberg, President and CEO at BostonGene. “Partnering with NEC will allow BostonGene to expedite our international expansion which aims to improve the standard of care for cancer patients around the world.”
