Osaka-Kansai Cluster: Life Science Potential of Osaka and Kansai
The Osaka-Kansai region has a long history as a center of the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, and its potential is unparalleled in Japan. The area is home to Japan's top-ranked research institutes and R&D centers of many large companies. This concentration provides a solid foundation for world-class R&D and business creation, especially in the life science field, and for driving the future of health and medical care.
In Osaka/Kansai, we have formed a robust ecosystem that supports all stages from basic research to clinical application and commercialization, making it an ideal environment for creating global innovations.
The NQ Global Startup Gateway will leverage this solid foundation to attract and promote collaboration among innovative startups, investors, and support organizations in Japan and abroad.
The three centers in Osaka, "Nakanoshima," "Kento," and "Saito," each with different functions and strengths, are mutually linked to create innovation in the life science field. By leveraging the strength of the concentration of industry, academia, and government in the life science field, we aim to further develop health and medical-related industries so that Osaka can play the role of a growth engine that supports and drives the future of Japan.
Nakanoshima
Medical institutions and companies create, practice, and share "future medicine" under one roof
Nakanoshima Qross, located in Nakanoshima, a symbol of the water city in the center of Osaka City, is a center for promoting the industrialization of cutting-edge "future medicine" based on regenerative medicine and in response to future advances in medical technology.
By bringing together medical institutions, companies, start-ups, support organizations, and others under one roof, and through collaboration among them, the roles of "practice," "creation," and "sharing" will be cycled to promote the industrialization of "future medicine" and to promote international contributions through the provision of "future medicine.
The facility consists of three facilities (areas): "Future Medical MED Center," "Future Medical R&D Center," and "Nakanoshima International Forum," each of which has the role of "practicing," "creating," and "sharing" future medicine.
Nakanoshima's greatest strength is its accessibility to investors (VC and CVC), R&D departments of large companies, and financial institutions, as well as its collaboration with tenant companies and medical institutions.
This location dramatically increases opportunities for funding, business partnerships, and open innovation, the most important factors for startups. The facility includes an incubation office for companies looking to expand globally, a co-working space to promote interaction, and a hall to host large-scale events. Various types of support, such as pitch events and matching programs, will be provided to strongly back up the global expansion of startups. In addition, the role of "practice," "creation," and "sharing" will be cycled through collaboration among tenant companies and medical institutions to promote the industrialization of cutting-edge "future medicine" based on regenerative medicine, genome medicine, artificial intelligence (AI), IoT, and other medical technologies that will respond to future advances in medical technology, and to provide "future medicine" to patients both in Japan and overseas. We also aim to promote international contributions through the provision of "future medicine" to patients in Japan and abroad.
Nakanoshima is truly a base designed for growth-stage life science startups that are looking to expand globally. It can be used not only as an access point for domestic startups with excellent seeds to the global market, but also as a gateway for overseas startups to enter the Japanese market. It will also serve as a nodal point between the clinical and research phases and the commercialization phase in order to quickly link the results of research in Kento and Saito to commercialization, and to make the ecosystem of the entire cluster function dynamically.
Kento
A city leading the way in extending healthy life expectancy through medical innovation and new lifestyles
Ken-To (North Osaka Health and Medical City) is a health and medical cluster that promotes urban development based on the concept of "health and medical care" in the area straddling Suita and Settsu Cities in Osaka Prefecture. Centered on two national research institutes, the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center and the National Institute of Health and Nutrition, companies and organizations have gathered to develop open innovation in health and medicine. By utilizing the world-class research and development environment centered on these institutions, and through the collaboration of companies and organizations that have clustered here, we aim to promote innovation in the medical and health fields and create an international-class medical complex industrial base.
KENTO provides demonstration fields for consistent progress from research and development to clinical trials, clinical application, and commercialization. The environment is also prepared to conduct demonstration tests of preventive medicine and health care services for the residents of the surrounding area, enabling the testing of technologies, systems, and institutions related to health and medical care that are at the stage of actual applicability, and the confirmation, verification, and demonstration of their effectiveness and economic efficiency. The region is not merely a cluster of medical and research institutions, but a place where startups and companies can quickly commercialize their products and conduct research based on large-scale clinical data, directly connected to the clinical field, and where innovation that contributes to people's health and the future can be put into practice.
Saito
Human beings, nature and science merge. A town where "green" is colored by "future
Located in the hills of Kita-Osaka straddling the cities of Minoh and Ibaraki, Saito was opened as a city of "green" with "future" in mind.
The Saito Life Science Park, the symbolic zone of the western district, is a major center for drug discovery and life science with a concentration of research institutes and incubation facilities.
The Saito Life Science Park is home to public research institutions such as the National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition (NIBN), as well as research and development companies in various life science fields such as biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, enabling close and proximity collaboration with universities and research institutions. The Saito Bio Incubation Facility in the park plays a leading role in promoting the growth and development of R&D startups through industry-government-academia collaboration, including joint research and technology transfer with Osaka University, research institutions, and private companies, targeting R&D startups in the bio and life sciences. Through incubation support, interface support, technical support, and other support services, we provide a wide range of assistance, from R&D startups in academia to mid-stage biotechnology and life science ventures. In addition to providing laboratories, we are also actively involved in building ecosystems through area management for the entire region in cooperation with the national government, local governments, and surrounding support groups to promote innovation creation through the creation of organic networks in each region.
For more information on Saito's urban development, please click here.
For more information about our incubation facility, please click here.
Join the Osaka/Kansai ecosystem and open the door to global opportunities!
The "NQ Global Startup Gateway" will strongly support global expansion by maximizing the potential of the robust Osaka/Kansai life science cluster.