Genesis Healthcare Co. has announced the completion of a new share issue worth 1.4 billion yen for allotment to Rakuten Inc. Furthermore, Rakuten’s Chairman and CEO will join Genesis Healthcare’s Board of Directors as an External Board Director. As a result of the new stock offering, Genesis Healthcare’s capital has increased to 2.1 billion yen, one of the largest paid-in-capital levels among genetic testing companies in Japan.
Genesis Healthcare, founded in 2004, already manages one of the largest genetic databases in Asia and Japan, with data of 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 the government, medical community, 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 Co-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 the 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.”
Genesis Healthcare plans to use the new funding mainly to promote genetic testing and investment into IT and R&D. It will also continue to accelerate its marketing programs, as well as strengthening recruiting and training efforts. Genesis Healthcare will continue to contribute to improving the quality of life through genetic diagnostic technologies.
