Hitachi Software Engineering to Release Micro-well Array Chip-based

JCNN News Summaries - Japan Corporate News Network, Jul 6, 2005 by Aki Tsukioka

Tokyo, July 6, 2005 - (JCN) - Hitachi Software Engineering (HitachiSoft) (TSE: 9694) announced on July 5 that it will begin marketing its newly-developed scanning system designed for cell analysis this month. Using a micro-well array chip developed by Toyama Medical-Bio Cluster, the new product can detect antigen- specific lymphocytes with high throughput and reproducibility.

Compared with the conventional method, this system can analyze cell responses comprehensively, contributing to the development of antibody drugs.

In collaboration with Toyama-based pharmaceutical company SC World, HitachiSoft will distribute the new system bundled with microwell array chips. The system sells for 15,000,000 yen ($136,000) and a chip for 25,000 yen ($227).

HitachiSoft aims for annual sales of more than 1 billion yen ($9.0 mil) in its microwell array-related business.