PRESERVING YESTERDAY,
INCUBATING TOMORROW.

60 Years of Innovation Since 1966.

Facing the changes of the times,
we have continuously embraced challenges and improvements.

Viewing our 60-year history as a mere milestone,
we will meet the expectations of future healthcare and research with innovative solutions.

Grounded in a legacy of unwavering quality,
we will continue to take on new challenges and contribute to the evolution of modalities.

MESSAGE

Celebrating 60 Years of Gratitude and Innovation.

Since introducing our first medical refrigeration unit in 1966, PHC Group’s Biomedical business has advanced with a clear commitment to contribute to society. By embracing change while pursuing continuous innovation, we have expanded from cold storage to incubators, laboratory equipment, and regenerative medicine.
During global health crises, including O157, SARS, and COVID-19, our products played a vital role on the front lines of research and healthcare—made possible by the dedication of our employees and the strength of our partnerships. These experiences reaffirmed our mission to support life sciences and safeguard human health.

Our journey has been shaped by the technological foundation of the SANYO Electric era, strengthened by the Panasonic Group’s commitment to quality, and redefined under the PHC brand.
Throughout, we have remained clear on what must evolve and what must endure. At our core is an unwavering commitment to quality.

This commitment is sustained by the craftsmanship and curiosity cultivated since 1966, and further strengthened through the use of DX and AI, as well as data-driven quality and service models.
This balance—preserving what matters while embracing change—defines the enduring DNA of our Biomedical business.

As society and technology evolve at an unprecedented pace, we remain committed to shaping the next standard through the integration of our history and innovation. This vision will guide our next phase of growth.
We will continue to grow together with our customers and partners, building a company that earns even greater trust.

Proud of 60 Years, Ready for What's Next

Most people may not know that I began my career in R&D at a Big Pharma company in the Netherlands. I have always loved microbiology and cells—and I still do. At the center of everything we do should be cells: creating the best environment, preserving viability, preventing contamination, and optimizing growth. This is our core mission.

Next comes reliability and quality—through engineering excellence, creativity, continuous improvement, and consistent production. Then comes the commercial side: passion, innovative marketing, teamwork, and a strong customer-centric approach. All of this must be guided by leadership that puts people first, listens to the next generation, embraces diversity, and continuously finds new ways to grow the business and energize the organization.

This has been the essence of my journey—from sales engineer to marketing, product management, and President of PHC Europe B.V. and PHC Corporation of North America. I still love cells, sales, people, our products, and my annual meetings with young engineers in Gunma.
There will always be challenges—but challenges are opportunities to learn and improve, as long as you keep a Sunao (open and humble) mindset. To our new employees in Japan and around the world: be proud of our 60-year history—it is your foundation.
Learn from both success and failure, embrace passion, and strive to surpass the generations before you."

Carrying the Sensei's Example Forward

When I started with the organization, we celebrated every sale, confident our customers would never experience buyer’s remorse. Our challenge was helping more people understand the superior quality of our products—a message that spread slowly through word of mouth in the days before the internet shaped decisions, especially while competing with major U.S. corporations.

The Gold Services meeting was held in Japan in January 2002, and it was represented top service leaders across North America. Among them was Kenmochi san, respectfully called Sensei. In our earlier days in North America, I’ve been fortunate to learn from him, as well as from Takemasa san, Kawasaki san, and Inoue san, whose shared commitment to ethics has guided our industry leading standards.
I’m proud to carry their example forward as we help develop the next generation of leaders to continue our legacy.

The UK Average Is 3 Years ― Mine Is 39

Chat GPT - AI says most people in the UK work in the same company for an average of 3 years, 10 years at the most. I am now working for the Company for 39 Years (even after official retirement). This is not just me, 24% of UK employees have worked for the Company for more than 30 Years.

Why so long?
Well, the company provides fantastic career opportunities. It is always changing and interesting. It provides workers with great pride to work for such a globally recognised company and most of all we provide an invaluable service to customers throughout the world.
Every day of my career, I enjoyed going to work and at the end of each day, I left feeling great satisfaction in my daily achievements.

Driving Growth Through Ongoing Innovation

I believe the life sciences field will continue to grow through ongoing innovation. Within it, preservation, cultivation, and clean technologies—built up over many years—are essential foundations that support life science as a whole.

While steadily advancing existing fields, I hope you will also boldly take on new areas. New initiatives always carry the risk of failure, but by experiencing many small failures early and learning from them, the likelihood of success steadily increases.

I encourage you to keep moving forward without fear, building experience step by step, and helping to open the next chapter of life science.

A Journey Starting with the First CO₂ Incubator

Since joining the company in 1984, the year the CO₂ incubator was introduced,
I have spent my career close to the front lines of life science sales.
What stands out most is how important it was to work in close proximity to our customers and distributors.

Manufacturers naturally focus on product features, but what truly matters is understanding what customers are seeking.
They are not choosing products themselves, but solutions to their challenges.
That requires interest in their work, learning from the field, and continually deepening our knowledge.

I also tried to consider which partners were best suited for each customer.
As the saying goes, “the answers are in the field”—this mindset has always been my starting point.

I also believed in constantly measuring ourselves against others and asking whether we were truly valued by our customers, remembering that our livelihoods ultimately come from them.
The ultimate goal of any company is continuity—sustained by trust.
Trust from customers, from distributors, and within the organization itself.

No one can succeed alone. By trusting one another, working as a team, and continuing to welcome new perspectives,
I believe the Biomedical business will continue to grow and meet the demands of the future.

Without remembering and honoring our history—the foundation on which all of today is built—moving into the future becomes more challenging.
At our core, we are a Japanese company, part of a society that deeply values reflecting on the past.
Preserving our history (yesterday) strengthens the way we grow (incubate) for the future. It is clear that preservation and incubation lie at the heart of the solutions we provide to our customers.

Throughout the 60 years of PHCbi’s journey, one thing has remained constant: passion.
This enduring passion has driven PHCbi to develop and continually improve its products.
It is symbolized by the red element within the “0” of our 60th anniversary logo.
Without this passion, there would be no 60 years to celebrate.

HISTORY

1960

Establishment of Matsushita-Kotobuki Electronics Co., Ltd.

1971

Cooled incubators

Tokyo Sanyo Electric starts producing industrial refrigerators and water coolers. Sanyo Electric’s third president, Mr. Kaoru Iue, launched “Expanded Appliances” to apply home appliance technology to new fields. With strong refrigeration and compressor technology, the company already held a 60% market share in refrigerated display cases.

1977

Ultra-Low Freezer

The Starting Point of Ultra‑Low Temperature Freezers: Where Sales Met Engineering

At the time, sales strategies were rooted in medical equipment, reflecting Nishimoto Sangyo’s heritage. Yet one sales representative saw greater potential in scientific applications and turned his attention to ultra-low temperature freezers—then produced only by U.S. manufacturers. Convinced that a model made in Japan model would succeed, he brought the idea to the head of the Biomedical Engineering Section.

That single proposal sparked the company’s first ultra-low temperature freezer project. The alignment of sales insight and engineering ambition opened the door to a new business field.

1984

CO₂ Incubator

The first CO₂ incubator, MCO-165, adopted a compressor system to stabilize CO₂ and humidity, but revealed challenges in vibration and sensor reliability, providing key lessons for improvement.

2018

The company was renamed PHC Corporation.
The biomedical business brand transitioned
from Panasonic to PHCbi.

2024

Live Cell Metabolic Analyzer
"LiCellMo®"

LiCellMo® — Redefining the Landscape of Cell Culture

LiCellMo began with an unprecedented challenge: applying PHC Group’s glucose sensor technology to cell culture. Continuously measuring glucose consumption and lactate production in real time was uncharted territory, demanding persistent refinement to achieve accuracy, reproducibility, and compatibility with the culture environment. The technology was successfully brought to market in 2024.
Enabling continuous metabolic monitoring without sampling or burdening cells, LiCellMo allows researchers to observe cellular metabolism as it lives. As metabolic data becomes increasingly important in the CGT field, this core technology—now extended to the automated cell culture system LiCellGrow™—represents a tangible step toward PHCbi’s vision to "contribute to the evolution and progress of modalities".

2026

Cell Expansion System
"LiCellGrow™"

*Currently under development outside
of Japan as of March 2026.

1950

Establishment of Sanyo Medical Equipment Sales Co., Ltd.

1966

Pharmaceutical Refrigerator

The Origins of the Biomedical Business: Built on Innovation and Delivery

Sanyo Electric and Nishimoto Sangyo shared a long-standing partnership that became the foundation for Sanyo’s entry into healthcare. Sanyo’s engineering expertise combined with Nishimoto’s deep knowledge of medical institutions and distribution networks. Together, they established a joint venture, and the launch of the first pharmaceutical refrigerator marked the start of Sanyo’s journey as a medical device manufacturer. This collaboration turned technological know-how and medical insights into innovative products, opening the door to the healthcare field and laying the groundwork for today’s biomedical business.

1973

Automatic Tablet Counting & Packing System

Hospitals and pharmacies requested automatic pill-packagers, and collaboration with customers led to their development.

1987

Bioclean Bench

Redefining the Clean Bench – The Negative Pressure Approach

Entering the clean bench market, SANYO Electric faced a field defined by strict safety standards and intense competition. Rather than follow existing models, the team set out to create equipment that balanced safety, usability, and comfort in the laboratory.

The result was the negative pressure clean bench (MCV-9BS/13BS)—a new concept offering greater safety than conventional clean benches while remaining easier to handle than full biosafety cabinets. It introduced a unique “middle ground” that had not existed in the market before.

Design was equally important. By reducing the size of internal components and incorporating curved glass by home appliance designers, the unit achieved a lighter, more user-friendly form. Further refinements, including a compact HEPA filter structure, enabled a space-saving design.

Combining safety, usability, and thoughtful design, the negative pressure clean bench became a product that embodied SANYO Electric’s unique approach—and its spirit of challenging new markets.

2010

SANYO Electric became a wholly owned Panasonic subsidiary, transferring its biomedical business to the Panasonic Group.

2020

COVID-19 pandemic

United by Mission – Responding to the Pandemic

As COVID-19 spread worldwide, we faced an unprecedented challenge: delivering essential products without interruption. Tracking vaccine development and required storage conditions, we moved quickly to secure components and scale production under intense time pressure. To meet rising demand while maintaining quality, we introduced innovations such as AI-assisted inspection. Despite uncertainty and risk, employees remained united by a shared purpose—to support vaccine distribution and help bring the pandemic to an end.

Through decisive action and close collaboration on the ground, we sustained production and contributed to global vaccination efforts. This experience remains a defining moment of resilience, responsibility, and pride.

2025

IoT Lab Monitoring System
"LabSVIFT™"