M3 : to Acquire 3H Holdings and Three Other Group Companies ~ Leading a next-generation clinical trial area leveraging largest patient recruitment panels ~

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 2022/1/25

M3 to Acquire 3H Holdings and Three Other Group Companies

~ Leading a next-generation clinical trial area leveraging largest patient recruitment panels ~

M3, Inc. (Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; CEO: Itaru Tanimura; URL: https://corporate.m3.com/; "M3" below) has announced the acquisition of 3H Holdings (Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; CEO: Sho Ando; URL: https://3h-holdings.co.jp/), 3H Medi Solution (Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; CEO: Sho Ando; URL: https://3h-ms.co.jp/), 3H Clinical Trial (Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; CEO: Hirotaka Takizawa; URL: https://3h-ct.co.jp/) and its subsidiary 3H CTS (Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; CEO: Yoshinori Takahashi; URL: https://3hcts.co.jp/; "3H Group" for these four companies below) as of February 1st, 2022.

• Background

M3 operates m3.com, a specialized web portal for medical professionals that delivers healthcare related information to its 300,000+ physician members in Japan, and offers marketing and clinical trial services. Recent business expansions have been in areas such as AI diagnostic tool development, genome diagnostics provision, and stroke rehabilitation centers, no longer limited to pharmaceutical marketing. "7P Projects" aim to integrate such businesses in order to provide holistic solutions for multiple issues within individual therapeutic areas.

In the clinical trial field, M3 promotes the efficiency of clinical trials using the internet through its subsidiary CROs(*1), SMOs(*2), and PROs(*3), including "Mr. Finder", a clinical trial support service that finds sites and patients to participate if clinical trials. In addition, Qlife, a PRO of the M3 Group, has a 600,000 patient panel for clinical trials.

As a life science company that connects Human Health and Happiness, the 3H Group provides one-stop services in the pharmaceutical and medical fields, from recruiting patients to participate in trials, conducting patient surveys, providing information, developing applications and systems, to supporting new business development, by utilizing its world's largest patient recruitment panel of 910,000 members. By supporting drug discovery and drug development based on science and patient centricity, and by realizing digital health transformation using the latest technology, the 3H Group solves the problems of patients and the medical field.

*1 CRO: Contract Research Organization

*2 SMO: Site Management Organization

*3 PRO: Patient Recruitment Organization

• Expected synergies through this acquisition

1. Streamline patient recruiting by utilizing the largest patient recruitment panel

This initiative will create a panel of more than 1.5 million combined members across the M3 Group and the 3H Group. By further accelerating patient recruitment, it is now possible to further promote the efficiency of clinical trials. As a result, 3H Group and M3 will develop a comprehensive evidence solution utilizing its 300,000 physician membership and the largest patient recruitment panel in Japan.

1. Further strengthen our position as a leading company in DCT (*4) support

In recent years, DCT, a new clinical trial method that does not rely on physical visits to medical institutions, has been attracting attention due to the increased recognition of patient centricity and the use of digital technology in drug development. As a pioneer and leader within this field, 3H Group and M3 have been providing DCT support services to pharmaceutical companies. By leveraging the know-how and business assets of both companies, 3H Group and M3 will contribute to the spread and infrastructure development of clinical trials that are at the same level as the world's most advanced and with less patient burden.

1. Establish an ePRO (*5) platform by linking the contact points with medical institutions and patients
   The 3H Group has been working to improve the efficiency of obtaining case report data from patients in clinical research by providing the ePRO application "P-guardian". Through this initiative, 3H Group and M3 will build a platform that enables appropriate communication between patients and medical professionals, by linking "P-guardian" with medical institutions and patient contact points such as "M3 DigiKar Smart" and "M3 DigiKar" developed by M3 Group.
2. Expand and add value to services through wide-ranging collaboration with clinical trials and clinical research related companies in the M3 Group
   By collaborating in a wide range of businesses related to clinical trials and clinical research, such as pharmaceutical affairs consulting companies, CROs or SMOs, owned by the both groups, 3H Group and M3 will provide even more seamless support for drug development from strategic planning to market launch and subsequent value enhancement through evidence creation. In addition, in each process, 3H Group and M3 aims to expand and add value to services by utilizing the assets of both companies.

*4 DCT: Decentralized Clinical Trials; A clinical trial initiative to reduce the number of physical visits of patients to a medical institution by using online or home visits.

*5 ePRO: electronic Patient Reported Outcome

• Overview of each company
• 1. 3H Holdings Established: 2018 Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan URL:https://3h-holdings.co.jp/
     Representative Director and President: Sho Ando
     Business: Management of 3H Group
  2. 3H Medi Solution Established: 2009 Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan URL:https://3h-ms.co.jp/
     Representative Director and President: Sho Ando
     Business: Provision of clinical studies support, DCT support, and clinical trial applications and systems
  3. 3H Clinical Trial Established: 2005 Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan URL:https://3h-ct.co.jp/
     Representative Director and President: Hirotaka Takizawa
     Business: Provision of patient recruitment service through "Seikatsu-Kojo WEB", the largest and most reputable clinical trial information website in Japan
  4. 3H CTS Established: 2014 Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan URL:https://3hcts.co.jp/
     Representative Director and President: Yoshinori Takahashi
     Business: Site Management Organization