Information contained in this news release is current as of the date of the press announcement, but may be subject to change without prior notice.
July 30 , 2008
Tokyo, July 30, 2008 --- Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT / TSE:6501) today announced that it has become a vendor partner of SAFE-BioPharma Association, the non-profit that manages the SAFE-BioPharma™ digital identity and signature standard for the biopharmaceutical and healthcare industries. Hitachi is the first Japanese corporation to join the SAFE-BioPharma vendor partner program. The SAFE-BioPharma standard provides a secure, legally enforceable, and regulatory compliant way to provide identity verification, non-repudiation, and content integrity for electronically signed documents.
Since 1940's, Hitachi has provided solutions for the biopharmaceutical industry, such as biopharmaceutical manufacturing plant construction and computer systems for research and development. By using such industry knowledge and technologies through these experiences, Hitachi, together with the biopharmaceutical industry, has pursued the evolution of regulations on drug discovery and development, such as GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) and GCP (Good Clinical Practice). Hitachi has also implemented solutions to meet the industry's latest needs.
With today's announcement, Hitachi strengthens channels to access information on digital signature uses in pharmaceutical and healthcare industry across the globe. By using Hitachi's solutions including signature embedding software, digital identity management solution, secure storage solution, and related consultation, biopharmaceutical professionals are more readily able to exchange and share electronically signed documents across the globe. Hitachi also contributes to SAFE-BioPharma's standardization activities through Hitachi's knowledge of the Japanese market.
“We welcome Hitachi to the growing SAFE-BioPharma vendor partner community. The company's broad biopharmaceutical experience providing computer systems for R&D, makes it a valuable global resource for life science companies,” said Mollie Shields-Uehling, President and Chief Executive Officer, SAFE-BioPharma Association.
Hitachi continues to respond agilely to environmental changes in biopharmaceutical and healthcare industry and support biopharmaceutical companies to seize opportunities for growth in increasingly globalized world.
Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT / TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 390,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2007 (ended March 31, 2008) consolidated revenues totaled 11,226 billion yen ($112.3 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, logistics, materials and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com.
SAFE-BioPharma Association is the non-profit association that created and manages the SAFE-BioPharma™ digital identity and signature standard for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. The SAFE-BioPharma industry standard is used to mitigate legal, regulatory and other business risk associated with business-to-business and business-to-regulator electronic transactions. It facilitates interoperability by providing a secure, enforceable, and regulatory-compliant way to verify identities of parties involved in electronic transactions. SAFE-BioPharma's vision is to be a catalyst in transforming the biopharmaceutical and healthcare communities to a fully electronic business environment by 2012. The Association's members are Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN), AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN), Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), Genzyme (NASDAQ: GENZ), GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Merck (NYSE: MRK), National Notary Association, Organon/Schering-Plough(NYSE: SGP), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Roche and Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY). For more information, visit www.safe-biopharma.org.
SAFE-BioPharma™ is a trademark of SAFE-BioPharma Association. Any use of this trademark requires approval from SAFE-BioPharma Association
