Japanese firm Sojitz Corporation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with HIROTSU Bioscience Inc., a Japan-based startup that has developed N-NOSE, a primary cancer screening test offering early cancer detection; the WHO Foundation; OurCrowd, a venture capital firm founded in Israel and the Global Health Equity Fund (GHEF), a fund that invests in innovative new medical technologies to tackle health inequity to jointly conduct strategic alliances and feasibility studies; for the deployment of N-NOSE in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) and regions.

HIROTSU has developed and is offering N-NOSE, a primary cancer screening test that utilises the highly accurate detection of cancer-specific odours in human urine by nematodes with an excellent sense of smell. N-NOSE is a simple, inexpensive, highly accurate, and comprehensive systemic cancer screening test that can be used to detect early-stage cancer simply by submitting urine.

After the official development in January 2020, over 400,000 people have received a screening and also over 1,500 corporations are offering this screening (as of May 2023). Sojitz and HIROTSU concluded a capital and business alliance agreement in February 2022 and have been promoting the international development of N-NOSE under a mutual cooperation.

Image caption- From left : Sojitz/Masayoshi Hirose, General Manager of Healthcare department; Dr Morris Laster, OurCrowd General Partner & GHEF Managing Partner; HIROTSU/Takaaki Hirotsu, President & CEO; WHO Foundation/Anil Soni, CEO and Geetha Tharmaratnam, Chief Impact Investment Office