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Mitsui Fudosan Commences Rental Lab & Office (Mitsui Lab & Office) Business

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Helping to resolve issues with the environments for research and development in the life sciences domain, and promoting open innovation

Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Masanobu Komoda; hereinafter "Mitsui Fudosan") announced today that it will further advance its efforts to support innovation in the life sciences, which it has mainly focused in Nihonbashi, and has decided to launch a new asset class of its real estate business, rental lab & office business, following office building, residence, commercial facilities, hotel/resort, and logistic facilities.

Mitsui Fudosan has worked through cooperation with Life Science Innovation Network Japan, Inc. (headquartered in Nihonbashi-Honcho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Chairman of the Board: Hideyuki Okano; hereinafter "LINK-J") toward community building, and location establishment, to build an ecosystem in which innovation leads to creation, and also toward the fostering of new industries, and providing capital through LP investment in life science venture companies.

The announced rental lab & office business is a business renting combination full-scale wet labs*1 and offices, necessary for innovation in the life sciences. This will be made into the Mitsui Lab & Office business in the future, which will be provided both hardware and software through a cooperative agreement with LINK-J. The two companies will contribute to solutions for research and development environments for the life sciences in Japan, aiming to create and innovation.

In April 2019, Mitsui Fudosan will reorganize the Life Science Innovation Department in order to expand the business area and scale up this business.

※1 A wet lab is a facility for experiments, in which researchers use liquids, gases, etc., for research in drug discovery and regenerative medicine.

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Characteristics of this project

◆Close to the urban center
In Japan, there are few rental life sciences wet labs available in the area adjacent to urban centers, and the limited number of research environment choices has been an issue. In the Mitsui Lab & Office business, Mitsui Fudosan will open a lab in an area adjacent to the urban center. The first lab, Mitsui Link Lab Kasai (tentative name), will be opened within Daiichi Sankyo Kasai R&D Center through cooperation with Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited. Additionally, Mitsui Fudosan will open a second lab, Mitsui Link Lab Shinkiba (tentative name), in Shinkiba 2-chome.

By using a rental wet lab located in an area close to the urban center, it is possible to engage in joint research with key players in the life sciences gathered in the urban center, including universities and medical institutions, and begin the commercialization of seeds through collaboration with companies in different sectors, achieving further innovation in research and development. Moreover, the convenient location of the labs is likely to draw human resources and opportunities to interact with investors, including venture capital.

Furthermore, by making home and work closer to each other, workers can shorten their commute time, which contributes to workstyle reform. We can improve workers' lives by providing fulfilling private time and creating a working environment in which workers can continue or return to a research job, while enabling them to get married, give birth and raise their children.

◆Creating open innovation
The combined rental wet lab and rental office space encourages communication. In addition, networking with the variety of players from different sectors gathered by Mitsui Fudosan and LINK-J in the Nihonbashi lab inspires open innovation in life sciences.

◆Providing a fulfilling research environment
Mitsui Lab&Office's wet lab is compatible with BSL2※2 (some labs are compatible with BSL1), which enables researchers to do a wide range of research. A shared experimental equipment room, a shared meeting room, and a communication lounge are also available to support cost reduction and active communication inside and outside the company, with other companies, and across different business sectors.

In addition, by collaborating with adjacent support organizations for research and development, workers can improve the efficiency of research, while they use the lounge and other facilities that Mitsui Fudosan and LINK-J provide in their life science facilities. The companies will develop a network for each facility in the future, forming a Japanese eco-system for research and development through the combined network of Nihonbashi, Kasai, and Shinkiba.

※2 BSL(biosafety level)
Rating of a lab and facilities for handling microorganisms including bacteria, virus, and pathogens. In accordance with the Laboratory Biosafety Manual set by the World Health Organization (WHO), procedures for handling the 4-graded risk groups are stipulated, depending on the risk of pathogen, etc. in each country. BSL2 is for pathogens that can cause disease, but with no serious risk.

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Mitsui Fudosan Commences Rental Lab & Office (Mitsui Lab & Office) Business
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