Mitsui Chemicals Acquires Stake in NATiAS and Agrees Business Alliance

Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (Tokyo: 4183; President & CEO: HASHIMOTO Osamu) is pleased to announce its acquisition of a stake in NATiAS Inc. (Chuo-ku, Kobe; CEO: KATAOKA Masanori), a startup with liquid-phase synthesis technology for Oligonucleotide active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Made effective February 21, 2022, the acquisition saw the two companies agree also to move forward with a business alliance.

Mitsui Chemicals launched its VISION 2030 Long-Term Business Plan in June 2021, aiming to establish solutions-based business models that resolve social challenges by incorporating service aspects into its current strength, high-performance material development and production. Positioning Life & Healthcare Solutions as the first pillar in the company’s growth strategy, Mitsui Chemicals aims to provide solutions that contribute to life, health and comfortable lifestyles by creating new products and technologies based on fine chemicals technologies, as well as by using M&A and external tie-ups to get footholds in new areas of business.
In embarking on this new investment, Mitsui Chemicals hopes to promptly establish business for Oligonucleotide raw materials and intermediates and a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) that will deliver solutions to stakeholders in the medical domain by leveraging NATiAS’s liquid-phase synthesis technology, which enables high-quality Oligonucleotide APIs to be mass-produced, its own Oligonucleotide intermediates Blockmer™ and Mitsui Chemicals’ own strengths in enzyme and precision organic synthesis technologies.

Company Profile: NATiAS

Company Name	NATiAS Inc.
CEO	KATAOKA Masanori
Date of Establishment	October 2, 2015
Address	5-5-2 Minatojima-Minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo
Description of Business	Manufacture and sale of Oligonucleotide APIs and raw materials for API production
Company website	https://www.natias.co.jp