Tokyo, 2017-Aug-22 — /EPR Retail News/ — Rakuten, Inc. (TSE: 4755) today announced it has invested in genetic health testing pioneer Genesis Healthcare Co., receiving a 1.4 billion yen issue of new shares. Rakuten Chairman and CEO Hiroshi “Mickey” Mikitani will join Genesis Healthcare’s Board of Directors as an External Board Director.
Genesis Healthcare, founded in 2004, already manages one of the largest genetic databases in Asia and Japan, with approximately 520,000 individuals as of August, 2017, and plans to increase its database size to one million by 2020. While Genesis Healthcare offers various genetic testing services to government, medical professionals, academia, industry and consumers, it also offers healthcare and disease prevention test kits and IT services under the consumer brand “GeneLife” in order to enrich people’s lives through personalized genetic testing.
Genesis Healthcare’s Founder and President, Dr. Iri Sato Baran, commented, “The investment by Rakuten, a Japan leader in internet services, will allow us to increase awareness of genetic information technology through digital healthcare for the betterment of personalized health and self-medication.”
“Forward-thinking technologies like Genesis Healthcare’s genetic health analysis and a deeper understanding of responsible self-medication are essential to finding innovative responses to increasing health costs and the rising awareness of health issues in Japan,” commented Rakuten Chairman and CEO, Hiroshi “Mickey” Mikitani. “With this investment, we would like to see Genesis Healthcare take a leading role in furthering the understanding and adoption of genetic health testing in Japan.”
Through the investment, Rakuten will support development and promote understanding of genetic diagnostic technologies in Japan in order to contribute to the realization of a richer society.
■Overview of Genesis Healthcare Co.
Company name： Genesis Healthcare Co.
Office location： Yebis Garden Place Tower 26F 4-20-3 Ebice, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Date of establishment： March1,2004
Capital：784M Yen
Representative： Dr. Iri Sato-Baran
Business Overview： Medical Kit manufacturing, Distribution license
Source: Rakuten Inc.