■ Overview of our Cluster by video ( 16 min.)

 ■ Location of the Northern Osaka Bio Medical Cluster 

  The Northern Osaka Bio Medical Cluster area includes “Saito”, located in northern Osaka (Ibaragi city and Minoh city), Dosho-machi area in Osaka city, which is a base for bio related industries such as pharmaceutical companies, and a cluster of research institutes in Suita city and Toyonaka city.   (Location and access)

 ■ Cluster of Pharmaceutical Companies  

  In Osaka city, especially in the Dosho-machi (Dosho town) area, there are over 300 pharmaceutical companies. The history of this area goes back to the Edo period when the area flourished as a “medicine town”. Materials for making medicine (such as herbs) were priced here and medicine was exclusively distributed throughout the nation from this area.
  Even after 350 years, headquarters of leading large pharmaceutical companies in Japan, such as Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, Shionogi & Co., Ltd, Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co., Ltd etc. are based in this region making Osaka Prefecture’s medical supply production volume top class within Japan (based on the data from Health Policy Bureau of Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “Statistical Survey on Trends in Pharmaceutical Production annual report” 2008) and supporting Osaka’s economy. It is a large industrial cluster that will lead the pharmaceutical industry of Japan.


●Medicine manufacturer sales ranking of Japan in 2012

●Looking for life science companies?

( Database of Pharmaceutical Companies and Medical Equipment & Service Companies )
 
 

 ■Accumulation of Research Institutes  

  Even in the academic field, the origin of Japan’s life science researches is in Osaka and excellent research institutes backed by such history are gathered in the northern Osaka area. Their active pursuit of basic research and business-academia collaboration provide a platform for an environment that creates and fosters bio ventures, which is the key to bio cluster development.
 

 ■Accumulation of Manufacturers 

Osaka's another strength lies in the medical equipment field based on massive accumulation (#1 density in Japan) of manufacturing SMEs in Higashi-Osaka City as well as global Panasonic and Sharp.
Not only does Osaka have a high potential in the pharmaceutical industry, but also has a high potential in the manufacturing industry as well. There are many manufacturing companies including large scale household appliance makers and small sized manufacturing companies that have their own technology in producing items from toothbrushes to rockets. There are more manufacturers in Osaka than any other prefecture in Japan. Roughly one out of ten manufacturers in Japan is located in Osaka. Especially Higashi Osaka City, which is located east of Osaka, has the highest concentration of factories in Japan.


●Creation Core Higashi Osaka   - support for small-and-medium-sized manufacturers