OLYMPUS TECHNOZONE Vol.67 2006-11
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INDEX
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Olympus Seen Increasingly as a Developer of Revolutionary Products Based on Flexible Concepts
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The Future Direction of Olympus Life Science Group
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AU3000i Immunoassay Analyzer
This system embodies the extensive biochemical analysis technology of the Olympus Life Science Group. It went on sale in July 2006, starting with the European immunoassay market.
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Artist's impression of the new Olympus building at Mishima. The facility is scheduled to become operational in April 2007.
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Medical science and engineering technology are like two wheels on the same cart. If advances in medical science result in changes to testing methods and standards, there will also be significant changes in the technology required.
There is also the question of reagents. Really it is best if the company that develops the equipment also develops the reagents at the same time. I hope that Olympus will start to manufacture reagents.
We hope to move toward the supply of both equipment and reagents, as way of ensuring the accuracy of test data more reliably. That's the kind of service that really need to provide.
In that context, Olympus is considering a move into the immunology testing market. Our first system in that field will be supplied with reagents.
At present the agglutination method is the only mass-screening technique available for blood typing. But it's possible that a revolutionary new method will emerge. For that to happen, you'll need to focus on reagents. You should look beyond the agglutination method and bring new ideas to your development efforts.
In any field, there will be dramatic changes every 10 years or so. In that sense, we may be able to achieve good results by employing people with new ideas, or by adding young people with little knowledge of the field to our development teams.
It's useful to have people who can look at problems from a distance. The fact that I saw the PK7000 as an "interesting machine" may have been linked to the fact that I had not worked in the laboratory shaking test tubes. Someone who has a different perspective can ultimately help to produce good results.
To conclude this discussion, we'd like to hear your expectations toward Olympus.
At present the PK Series systems are the only systems used throughout the world to carry out mass-screening using the agglutination method. But we hope you'll develop even better products. Pattern recognition is extremely difficult with the agglutination method, and we want a system that can make judgments more simply. It would be necessary to develop the reagents for such a system at the same time.
Someone mentioned social responsibility. We understand that a company has to make a profit. However, your systems are now used so widely that it would be irresponsible for you to abandon this field abruptly. Even though these products may not be especially attractive from a business perspective, we hope that you will continue to make and improve them. I see that as Olympus' mission.
I share that hope.
Thank you. We'll do our best to meet your expectations.
The team responsible for the PK Series is part of the Life Science Group. The Life Science Group has two business areas: micro-imaging systems (MIS), especially microscopes, and diagnostic systems. We are involved in diagnostic systems, which are crucial to clinical testing. We are working to achieve progress and evolution using approaches based on bio/life science. Targets for research and development projects include systems that allow the observation of living cells in basic and clinical research, as well as genetic testing systems for use in next-generation clinical testing. We are still at the stage of sowing seeds in these areas, but new ideas tend to emerge in this kind of evolutionary environment.
One of the interesting technologies that we are studying at present allows trace amounts of liquids to be controlled. We believe that by applying this technology to testing systems, including those used in bio applications, we will be able to reduce the amounts of specimens and reagents required dramatically.
Our development and manufacturing facilities for clinical testing systems are currently located at Mishima in Shizuoka Prefecture. However, we are building new facilities and expect them to be operational by April 2007. We will continue to meet new challenges in this field, and we are determined to live up to your expectations.
Thank you for time.
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