FRONTEO, Inc. (Head Office: Tokyo, Japan; Chief Executive Officer: Masahiro Morimoto; hereafter "FRONTEO"), Shionogi & Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Osaka, Japan; Chief Executive Officer: Isao Teshirogi; hereafter "Shionogi"), and Suzuken Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Nagoya, Japan; President and CEO: Shigeru Asano; hereafter "Suzuken") are pleased to announce that we will collaborate with the aim of implementing the conversational dementia diagnosis support AI program in society.
The three companies held discussions based on the press releases ‘Suzuken and FRONTEO sign alliance agreement on conversational dementia diagnosis support AI program business (jointly signed by the two companies, dated 15 February 2022)’ and ‘Announcement of the Strategic Business Partnership Agreement for Diagnosis Support AI Program in Dementia and Depression between FRONTEO and Shionogi (jointly signed by the two companies, dated 14 February 2024)’. As a result, in addition to the existing agreements between the two companies, an agreement was reached on a collaboration scheme that utilises the strengths of the three companies. We will work towards the social implementation of the conversational dementia diagnosis support AI program (medical devices), from the development of optimum medical devices to the establishment of a wholesale distribution system.
Role of each company
FRONTEO and Shionogi:
Business development including manufacturing of the program, obtaining and maintaining regulatory approval, insurance coverage, marketing and promotion.
Suzuken:
Distribution of the program to customers after market release
Scope of collaboration among the three companies
FRONTEO and Shionogi, which operate the program including the AI model, will take the lead in development, and Suzuken, which has a strong network with medical institutions nationwide, will exclusively handle the wholesale distribution in Japan.
Therefore, the program is expected to penetrate the market more quickly.
Through this collaboration, the three companies will maximize their respective knowledge and strengths to contribute to improving the quality of medical care and patients' QOL, supporting healthcare workers, and effectively utilizing healthcare resources.
Conversational Dementia Diagnosis Support AI Program
URL: https://lifescience.fronteo.com/products/dementia/
The Conversational Dementia Diagnosis Support AI Program is an AI program that screens for cognitive decline by analyzing natural conversations of 5 to 10 minutes between a patient and a healthcare worker. With the aging of the population, measures against dementia are positioned as an important health issue not only in Japan but also in the world. As a highly accurate and rapid testing method that can be widely used by specialists and non-specialized medical institutions, the program is expected to contribute to the promotion of early detection and treatment for dementia, as well as to the advancement of digital medicine, including remote medical treatment, and to the efficiency and standardization of medical care. Patents have been registered in Japan (registration number: 6733891), Korea (registration number: 10-2293160), and Europe (registration number: 3835972).
■About Shionogi URL: https://www.shionogi.com/global/en/
Shionogi is committed to “Contributing to a healthy and prosperous life” as our key focus. We will endeavor to deliver early diagnosis and treatment for the patients of psycho-neurological diseases, which still have high unmet medical needs, and contribute to improving the QOL of patients with psycho-neurological disorders and their families. To that end, we will strengthen our efforts, including collaboration with external partners.
■About Suzuken URL: https://www.suzuken.co.jp/en/
The Suzuken Group has defined health creation as its primary business domain and is engaged not only in its core business of ethical drug distribution but also in the comprehensive development of medical and health-related businesses. These activities include the research, development, and manufacturing of new drugs, support services for pharmaceutical manufacturers, as well as the operations of pharmacy and nursing care businesses. Furthermore, the Suzuken Group is the only pharmaceutical wholesaler that boasts a comprehensive distribution function, which we refer to as the healthcare distribution platform, ranging from pharmaceutical manufacturers to wholesalers, and extending further to medical institutions and pharmacies. This enables us to address the diversifying and increasingly sophisticated demands of medical distribution from the perspectives of manufacturers, medical institutions, pharmacies, and even patients, offering a one-stop solution.
■About FRONTEO URL: https://www.fronteo.com/
【Medium-term vision】
FRONTEO is a data analysis company that provides various AI solutions and services using the in-house developed AI engine "KIBIT".
Based on the philosophy of "realizing fairness in the information society by providing solutions that do not overlook risks and opportunities buried in records", FRONTEO’s strengths lie in natural language processing and network analysis technologies that extract meaningful and important information from vast amounts of text data and complex networks to support advanced decision-making by experts.
FRONTEO provides services in LegalTech AI, Business Intelligence, Life Science AI, and Economic Security and contributes to solving various corporate and social issues. Established in August 2003, listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers (currently TSE Growth) on June 26, 2007. Offices are located in Japan, USA, South Korea and Taiwan. Obtained a first-class medical device manufacturing and sales business license, registered controlled medical device sales business. The capital is 3,042,317 thousand yen (as of March 31, 2023)
＊FRONTEO and KIBIT are registered trademarks of FRONTEO in Japan.