iXensor, the pioneer of mobile health, announced that Rohto Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, a multinational pharmaceutical corporation headquartered in Japan, has become the new strategic partner and shareholder. iXensor received Rohto Pharmaceutical's strategic investment to expand its mobile health business globally and accelerate its PixoTech® platform licensing business.
Building on this strategic partnership, Rohto Pharmaceutical will deploy iXensor's patented PixoTech® technology to digitize its new products through a separate technology licensing and joint development agreement, thereby providing Rohto Pharmaceutical's consumers with innovative self-testing portfolios including women's health and infectious diseases in Japan market.
iXensor's first product, PixoTest® Glucose Monitoring System, developed based on its PixoTech® platform, is the world's first US FDA-approved smartphone camera-based blood test dated in 2017. The PixoTech®, currently protected by more than 70 international patents, is iXensor's core technology platform that transforms smartphones into in vitro diagnostic instruments for biomedical analysis in point-of-care testing and self-testing. PixoTech® controls smartphones' camera sensing modules and screen lighting emissions with multiple wavelengths to analyze all types of immunoassay and enzymatic tests through the proprietary algorithm.
"By investing in iXensor, we can deepen our joint efforts on a series of new product developments, thus expanding our testing and diagnostic business through a wave of digital transformation. As the first step, we will receive a technical license for smartphone-based diagnostic devices and apps from iXensor to develop and sell innovative self-testing products."
Mr. Hidetoshi Segi, Chief Strategy Officer of Rohto Pharmaceutical
Dr. Carson Chen, CEO of iXensor, expressed, "This partnership represents the unlimited potential and technical advantage of the PixoTech® platform to transform smartphones into precision medical diagnostic devices. The licensing business of PixoTech® technology started shifting in as the new engine to drive iXensor's growth."
In the post-pandemic era, iXensor endeavors to accelerate the growth of the at-home self-testing market and empower the evolution of the digital health ecosystem through licensing the PixoTech® technology. Thanks to that, PixoTech® can be flexibly applied to the digitalization of various lateral flow tests. In addition, it can shorten the lead time for IVD manufacturers venturing into the digital health business. It can also be applied to develop companion diagnostic or remote monitoring tools for pharmaceuticals to prove the efficacy of new classes of medications with actual test results collected from patients' smartphones with comfort at home.
About Rohto Pharmaceutical
Founded in 1899, Rohto Pharmaceutical is a renowned Japanese company that has successfully commercialized its research and development of consumer and pharmaceutical products worldwide. Rohto Pharmaceutical has established a robust product portfolio, including eye care, skincare, gastrointestinal medicines, and functional foods. Within the test drug business, the novel coronavirus antigen rapid test for medical institutions was launched in response to the global epidemic in addition to the existing pregnancy test, ovulation test, and flu rapid test products.
About iXensor
iXensor, the pioneer of mobile health, turns smartphones into lab-grade mobile medical diagnostics. In 2017, iXensor introduced the PixoTest® Blood Glucose Monitoring System as the world's first US FDA-approved smartphone camera-based blood test. Based on the PixoTech® platform, iXensor has ventured into at-home self-testing and clinical point-of-care diagnostics across infectious diseases, women's health, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.