Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Japan Develops Next-Generation Drug Design, Healthcare Robotics and Digital Health Platforms

12/11/2024

To provide high-quality medical care to its population - around 30% of whom are 65 or older - Japan is pursuing sovereign AI initiatives supporting nearly every aspect of healthcare.

AI tools trained on country-specific data and local compute infrastructure are supercharging the abilities of Japan's clinicians and researchers so they can care for patients, amid an expected shortage of nearly 500,000 healthcare workers by next year.

Breakthrough technology deployments by the country's healthcare leaders - including in AI-accelerated drug discovery, genomic medicine, healthcare imaging and robotics - are highlighted at the NVIDIA AI Summit Japan, taking place in Tokyo through Nov. 13.

Powered by NVIDIA AI computing platforms like the Tokyo-1 NVIDIA DGX supercomputer, these applications were developed using domain-specific platforms such as NVIDIA BioNeMo for drug discovery, NVIDIA MONAI for medical imaging, NVIDIA Parabricks for genomics and NVIDIA Holoscan for healthcare robotics.

Drug Discovery AI Factories Deepen Understanding, Accuracy and Speed NVIDIA is supporting Japan's pharmaceutical market - one of the three largest in the world - with NVIDIA BioNeMo, an end-to-end platform that enables drug discovery researchers to develop and deploy AI models for generating biological intelligence from biomolecular data.

BioNeMo includes a customizable, modular programming framework and NVIDIA NIM microservices for optimized AI inference. New models include AlphaFold2, which predicts the 3D structure of a protein from its amino acid sequence; DiffDock, which predicts the 3D structure of a molecule interacting with a protein; and RFdiffusion, which designs novel protein structures likely to bind with a target molecule.

The platform also features BioNeMo Blueprints, a catalog of customizable reference AI workflows to help developers scale biomolecular AI models to enterprise-grade applications.

The NIM microservice for AlphaFold2 now integrates MMSeqs2-GPU, an evolutionary information retrieval tool that accelerates the traditional AlphaFold2 pipeline by 5x. Led by researchers at Seoul National University, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and NVIDIA, this integration enables protein structure prediction in 8 minutes instead of 40 minutes.

At AI Summit Japan, TetraScience, a company that engineers AI-native scientific datasets, announced a collaboration with NVIDIA to industrialize the production of scientific AI use cases to accelerate and improve workflows across the life sciences value chain.

For example, choosing an optimal cell line to produce biologic therapies such as vaccines and monoclonal antibodies is a critical but time-consuming step. TetraScience's new Lead Clone Assistant uses BioNeMo tools, including the NVIDIA VISTA-2D foundation model for cell segmentation and the Geneformer model for gene expression analysis, to reduce lead clone selection to hours instead of weeks.

Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma uses BioNeMo biomolecular AI models such as ESM-1nv, ESM-2nv and DNABERT to accelerate biologics research. Its AI models are used to generate novel molecular structures, predict how those molecules will bind to target proteins and optimize them to more effectively bind to those target proteins.

Using the BioNeMo framework, Astellas has accelerated chemical molecule generation by more than 30x. The company plans to use BioNeMo NIM microservices to further advance its work.

Japan's Pharma Companies and Research Institutions Advance Drug Research and Development Astellas, Daiichi-Sankyo and Ono Pharmaceutical are leading Japanese pharma companies harnessing the Tokyo-1 system, an NVIDIA DGX AI supercomputer built in collaboration with Xeureka, a subsidiary of the Japanese business conglomerate Mitsui & Co, to build AI models for drug discovery. Xeureka is using Tokyo-1 to accelerate AI model development and molecular simulations.

Xeureka is also using NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs to explore the application of confidential computing to enhance the ability of pharmaceutical companies to collaborate on large AI model training while protecting proprietary datasets.

To further support disease and precision medicine research, genomics researchers across Japan have adopted the NVIDIA Parabricks software suite to accelerate secondary analysis of DNA and RNA data.

Among them is the University of Tokyo Human Genome Center, the main academic institution working on a government-led whole genome project focused on cancer research. The initiative will help researchers identify gene variants unique to Japan's population and support the development of precision therapeutics.

The genome center is also exploring the use of Giraffe, a tool now available via Parabricks v4.4 that enables researchers to map genome sequences to a pangenome, a reference genome that represents diverse populations.

AI Scanners and Scopes Give Radiologists and Surgeons Real-Time Superpowers Japan's healthcare innovators are building AI-augmented systems to support radiologists and surgeons.

Fujifilm has developed an AI application in collaboration with NVIDIA to help surgeons perform surgery more efficiently.

This application uses an AI model developed using NVIDIA DGX systems to convert CT images into 3D simulations to support surgery.

Olympus recently collaborated with NVIDIA and telecommunications company NTT to demonstrate how cloud-connected endoscopes can efficiently run image processing and AI applications in real time. The endoscopes featured NVIDIA Jetson Orin modules for edge computing and connected to a cloud server using the NTT communication platform's IOWN All-Photonics Network, which introduces photonics-based technology across the network to enable lower power consumption, greater capacity and lower latency.

NVIDIA is also supporting real-time AI-powered robotic sys
LINK: https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/japan-sovereign-ai-healthcare/...
See more stories from nvidia

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

03/07/2026

VSL reveal Synchron Brass (muted)

New bundle & three Single Packs Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...

03/07/2026

London Symphony Orchestra upgrade LSO St Luke's

Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...

03/07/2026

Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV

Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV 3 July, 2026 Media releases National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...

03/07/2026

2023

1 February 2023 SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...

03/07/2026

Broadcast Solutions Acquires BFE

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/07/2026

AdClarity Expands CTV Offering to 20 Countries

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/07/2026

Mountain West Conference Launches SVOD Service With New Revenue Model

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/07/2026

Death Star

Death Star Andy Marken July 2, 2026 0 Comments Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...

03/07/2026

Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's Next

Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...

03/07/2026

July 01, 2026

Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...

03/07/2026

July 02, 2026

Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...

02/07/2026

SVG Students To Watch: Abby Finke, University of Dayton

Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD In the live-sports...

02/07/2026

SVG GameDay, Ep. 22: Winnipeg Jets Kyle Balharry - Going to Work in the Great White North

In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...

02/07/2026

BLAST Reports $133 Million in 2025 Revenue, Opens New York Headquarters

BLAST, a competitive entertainment company focused on esports, has announced more than $133 million in revenue for 2025, representing more than 40% year-over-ye...

02/07/2026

Riedel and SKAARHOJ Expand Collaboration with SimplyLive Integration

Riedel Communications has announced official SKAARHOJ panel support for SimplyLive production workflows, enabled through the SimplyLive 2.1 release. The integra...

02/07/2026

Czech Fire Rescue Service Deploys LiveU Video Transmission for Emergency Operations

The Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic has deployed LiveU video-over-bond...

02/07/2026

Gravity Media USA Appoints Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development

Gravity Media USA has announced the appointment of Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development, effective July 1, 2026. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Bosto...

02/07/2026

TwelveLabs Raises $100 Million in Series B Funding

TwelveLabs, a video intelligence company, has announced $100 million in Series B funding co-led by NEA and NAVER Ventures, with participation from Amazon, Radic...

02/07/2026

Pro Padel League Announces Broadcast Partnership With USA Sports for 2026 Season

The Pro Padel League (PPL) has announced a broadcast partnership with USA Sports that will air five PPL championship matches on CNBC during the 2026 season, the...

02/07/2026

LiveLike Powers Eight FIFA World Cup 2026 Fan Engagement Activations Across Five Continents

LiveLike, a digital fan engagement platform, has announced eight confirmed FIFA ...

02/07/2026

InfoComm 2026: Cobalt Digitals blueCORE Wins Futures Best of Show Award

Cobalt Digital has received Future's Best of Show Award, presented by AV Technology at InfoComm 2026, for its blueCORE family of standalone signal processor...

02/07/2026

Synamedia Appoints Dr. Tzvi Gerstl as CEO

Synamedia has announced the appointment of Dr. Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transition...

02/07/2026

Esports World Cup 2026 Announces Expanded Sony Partnership for Paris Event

The Esports Foundation (EF) and Sony Group Corporation have announced an expanded collaboration for the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC), taking place in Paris, Fra...

02/07/2026

Zee Entertainment Secures Exclusive Bundesliga Rights in India for Five Years

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. ( Z') has announced exclusive broadcast and digital rights for the Bundesliga in India for five years, beginning with the...

02/07/2026

All Hands on Deck: NBCU Comes Together to Produce Ultra-Complex Sail4th 250 Broadcast on July 4

An effort uniting News, Sports, Local, and Telemundo, the 50+-camera live produc...

02/07/2026

Release Rundown: What to Watch in July, From Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass to Murder 101

Zoey Deutch, John Slattery, Ken Marino, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, and Ben Wang appe...

02/07/2026

The Crow Hill Company introduce Brackish Pads

Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...

02/07/2026

Steinberg SpectraLayers 13 now available

A new era in unmixing and spectral editing The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...

02/07/2026

Sine Machine from Melatonin

Aims to simplify additive synthesis Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...

02/07/2026

iZotope acquired by Boris FX

Products to remain fully active & supported Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...

02/07/2026

GearExpo UK 2026

What you missed! Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...

02/07/2026

Imagine Communications Acquired by Lumine Group

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

02/07/2026

Rise AV APAC Brings Mentoring Conversation to InfoComm As...

Following the successful launch of its inaugural APAC Mentoring Programme last month, the Rise AV APAC Regional Council will bring the conversation around mento...

02/07/2026

Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Used to Shoot Director Takahisa Zeze's Cry Out

Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Used to Shoot Director Takahisa Zeze's Cry Out Brie Clayton July 2, 2026 0 Comments Highly mobile camera supports tense and de...

02/07/2026

Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE, expanding its lead in European broadcast, media and communications infrastructure

Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE, expanding its lead in European broadcast, medi...

02/07/2026

Berklee Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's 250th Anniversary Celebration of the Declaration of Independence

Berklee Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's 250th Anniversar...

02/07/2026

Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE

Broadcast Solutions GmbH, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is acquiring BFE Studio und Medien...

02/07/2026

LiveMode builds agile content ingest with Cinegy

Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has extended the ingest facility at leading Brazilian sports company LiveMode, work...

02/07/2026

Synamedia Appoints Dr Tzvi Gerstl CEO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

02/07/2026

Cobalt Digitals blueCORE Wins Futures Best of Show Award...

Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...

02/07/2026

Synamedia Appoints Dr Tzvi Gerstl as CEO as Company Enter...

Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...

02/07/2026

Screen Australia backs audience-led filmmaking with new insight-driven initiatives

Screen Australia backs audience-led filmmaking with new insight-driven initiativ...

02/07/2026

Screen Australia refines guidelines for Narrative Content Development and Documentary Development

Screen Australia refines guidelines for Narrative Content Development and Docume...

02/07/2026

Maxon Autograph: Introduction to working with Tables

Maxon Autograph: Introduction to working with Tables Simon Ubsdell July 1, 2026 0 Comments An overview of Autograph's ridiculously powerful tables...

02/07/2026

Boston Conservatory's Soire Breaks Records to Fund Student Scholarships

Boston Conservatory's Soir e Breaks Records to Fund Student Scholarships The event achieved 127 percent of its fundraising goal in an evening celebrating ...