Firstly, I would like to express my heartfelt condolences to everyone affected by the Noto Peninsula Earthquake, and sincerely pray for the swift recovery of the affected areas.
This past year, marking the first year post-COVID, provided a precious opportunity for face-to-face reunions with business partners, academic colleagues, and friends from around the globe.
Participating in PTCOG61 (the Annual Meeting of the Particle Therapy Cooperative Group) in Spain allowed me to reconnect with the global academic community after a three-year hiatus. During the event’s conclusion, Chairman Marco Durante emphasized that downsizing proton therapy systems is a key to improving its accessibility. The growing enthusiasm within the academic community for the widespread adoption of proton therapy through technological innovation was increasingly evident.
This momentum isn’t confined to academia alone. In the broader landscape, the spotlight on deep-tech startups as agents of economic growth continues to intensify. Deep tech, characterized by its elevated technological expertise, long research and development timelines, and substantial financial investments, holds the potential to yield profound societal impacts upon successful implementation. The emergence of globally competitive deep-tech startups is now a shared agenda for broader Japanese society.
Amidst this significant trend, our company received notable attention, starting with winning a business contest, and we also reached a crucial milestone of obtaining regulatory approval for our product in November. Since then, we have received numerous inquiries about our product.
Looking forward to 2024, our efforts will be dedicated to the establishment of production capabilities and the enhancement of our sales and service infrastructure. Toward the next milestone of deploying our system and initiating treatments, our commitment remains steadfast until the day when a society where advanced proton therapy is universally accessible becomes a reality, as encapsulated in our vision of “PROTON for everyone.”
