Announcement of Business and Capital Alliance Contract with HEALIOS K.K. to develop practical applications for regenerative medicine

Nikon Corporation (Kazuo Ushida, President) signed a business and capital alliance agreement with HEALIOS K.K. (Hardy TS Kagimoto, CEO, Tokyo).

Based on this agreement, Nikon will accept a 2 billion yen third-party allocation of shares by Healios, and will advance the development of practical applications for regenerative medicine by leveraging the strengths of both companies.

About HEALIOS K.K.

Regenerative medicine is a field that is expected to offer a new form of treatment for patients suffering from diseases without effective treatments worldwide, and has a large market potential in the near future as efforts towards product development and practical applications become full-fledged.

Healios is a front runner in the development of regenerative medicine using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), etc., and is a biotechnology company that possesses a number of pipelines with the potential for practical applications.

Healios, established in 2011 with an initial public offering in 2015 (TSE Mothers: 4593), has promoted the development of regenerative medicine targeting age-related macular degeneration in Japan.

In addition to the Ophthalmological field, Healios is starting to develop therapeutic methods for the ischemic stroke with stem cell products, which entered the clinical trial phase in late 2016. Healios is also conducting research and development of products such as regenerative medicine to create functional human organs in the body via organ bud transplantation.

(For details, please visit https://www.healios.co.jp/en/)

Background of partnership

Nikon accepted a 500 million yen third-party allocation of shares by Healios (previously: Retina Institute Japan, K.K.) in August, 2013 and has supported Healios' development of regenerative medicine targeting age-related macular degeneration using iPSCs.

Purpose for signing this contract

By signing this agreement, Nikon will financially support Healios' development of regenerative medicine products and provide technical solutions for quality evaluation of living cells and culture/production of cells for regenerative medicine based on Nikon's expertise in image analysis technology.

Nikon, as Healios' main partner, will aim to accelerate the commercialization of Healios' development and production of regenerative medicine products

Implications to Nikon's business

By signing this agreement, Nikon will gain a wide range of business opportunities in the contract manufacturing of cells for regenerative medicine.

Specifically, if Healios acquires the license to develop regenerative medicine products for Japan, Nikon has exclusive negotiation rights or an opportunity for preferential negotiation (excluding specific fields) in the case where Healios considers contract manufacturing of cell production for regenerative medicine.

In addition, Nikon will develop useful information from Healios concerning areas such as cell contract manufacturing and image evaluation which can contribute to the development of new businesses in the field of regenerative medicine.

By signing this agreement, Nikon and Healios will promote the establishment of new treatments for diseases currently without effective treatments by leveraging the technology and knowledge of both companies. Furthermore, we will develop practical applications for regenerative medicine and participate in the expansion of related industries.