Secaucus, N.J. – Continuing its diversification into areas beyond
entertainment-based consumer electronics,
North America said Monday it has completed an investment in CardioNexus, a
company specializing in early diagnostic medical technologies.
CardioNexus is a portfolio company of Houston’s Fairway Medical
Technologies, which works closely with the Texas Medical Center.
CardioNexus is the first joint initiative between the two
companies to enter the application-specific device market, an area in which
Panasonic’s core medical imaging technologies can be leveraged.
The move is a step toward establishing a leadership position in
the field of personalized preventive medicine through early disease detection
and home health care.
The investment was said to be part of Panasonic’s plans “to
establish itself as a global leader in personalized preventive medicine. The
investment follows an earlier Panasonic initiative to establish a presence in
the world’s largest medical complex, the Texas Medical Center based in
Houston.”
“We are excited about this unique opportunity and view it as the
beginning of a productive and mutually beneficial relationship” said Joseph M.
Taylor, Panasonic North America chairman and CEO.
“We welcome Panasonic’s commitment to health care, and hope to
make the Texas Medical Center the global hub for personalized preventive medicine,”
stated Morteza Naghavi, M.D., Fairway Medical Technologies president and CEO.
Naghavi also is a former member of the cardiology faculty at the
University of Texas Health Science Center and co-director of the Vulnerable
Plaque Research Department at the Texas Heart Institute. Fairway is a portfolio company of BCM
Technologies (the commercial arm of Baylor College of Medicine).
The investment in CardioNexus was among a handful of recent moves
Panasonic has made in its move to enter health care technologies.
In May, Panasonic president Fumio Ohtsubo, stated the company’s
intention to reinforce the health care business in the group by announcing
plans to change its subsidiary’s name from Panasonic Shikoku Electronics to
Panasonic Healthcare on Oct. 1.
