Fujifilm acquires the U.S. RIS manufacturer Empiric to expand its business in the field of medical IT systems

December 2, 2008

FUJIFILM Corporation (President and CEO: Shigetaka Komori) has acquired, through its U.S. sales subsidiary FUJIFILM Medical Systems USA, Inc., all issued shares of the U.S. manufacturer of radiology information systems (RIS)*1, Empiric Systems, LLC (headquartered in North Carolina, United States; hereinafter "Empiric"). Empiric will make a fresh start as a 100% subsidiary of the Fujifilm Group.

Focusing on its strategic product SYNAPSE*2, radiology-department's PACS*3having leading market share in Japan, Fujifilm has been globally pursuing, since 2007, the expansion of its medical IT system business to provide comprehensive hospital solutions covering IT systems for non-radiology departments as well. Some of the recent examples are; acquisition of ProSolv (the U.S. manufacturer of medical imaging & information systems for the cardiovascular department), ownership transfer of Sumitomo Computer Systems Corporation's IT system business in endoscopy, ultrasound and pathology departments, and re-establishment of Tianjian (China's leading manufacturer of HIS (Hospital Information System) and RIS) as a Fujifilm group company.

In the U.S. market, Fujifilm forged sales partnership with Empiric in 2006 to combine SYNAPSE and Empiric's RIS product into a seamless-operational solution for sales expansion. Empiric's RIS product is, similarly to SYNAPSE, a web-based application that are scalable and easy to maintain, as all the application software is installed on the server. It is rated highly among users because of its simplicity in initial introduction / updating, advanced expandability, and compatibility with other web-based systems.

The latest acquisition of Empiric will accelerate the integration of the two companies' systems, and reinforce competitiveness in the U.S. market, where PACS and RIS are increasingly offered as integrated solutions. Tapping into its appeal as a web-based application, Fujifilm will actively explore business in the fields of growth-anticipated remote diagnostic imaging over the Internet, and ASP services for RIS / PACS solutions, in a bid to expand its market share. Efforts for sales expansion will go beyond the United States to cover the medical IT system markets of Britain, Australia, Middle East and Israel.

From the basis of the Corporate Philosophy of "using leading-edge, proprietary technologies to help enhance the quality of life of people," Fujifilm has drawn up a growth strategy that defines the Medical & Life Science Business as one of the priority areas, substantially reinforcing capital investments and R&D, and launching aggressive M&A for business expansion.

Through achieving growth in the medical field, Fujifilm will contribute to improve healthcare quality and efficiency, promote healthier lives for people, and to further enhance quality of life. Established in 2001Location of HQ: Morrisville, North Carolina, United StatesBusiness description: Developing, marketing and providing maintenance services for radiology information systems (RIS)

source: www,fujifilm.jp