PST Inc. (Headquarters: Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, CEO: Hiroshi Otsuka, hereinafter referred to as “PST”) has agreed to enter into a capital and business alliance with ROHTO Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture, President: Masashi Sugimoto, hereinafter referred to as “ROHTO Pharmaceutical”). With the investment from ROHTO Pharmaceutical, we will drive the research and development of our “Vocal Biomarker Technology” and commercialize a variety of products, contributing to improving people’s health and early detection of diseases.

Background and Details of the Capital and Business Alliance
Voice contains rich information that reflects the physical and psychological states of people. PST has been working on analyzing this valuable information, creating many intellectual properties, and obtaining patents while developing “Vocal Biomarker Technology.” By utilizing this technology, we are developing products and services in various forms, primarily in the mental health field, which is a social issue, as a technology that can easily grasp the state of the mental and physical health so that people can lead healthy and fulfilling daily lives. In this way, we aim to support companies focusing on health-oriented business administration and build a system that allows people from children to the elderly to engage in health management.

In addition, while health-oriented business administration is suggested to lead to increased productivity and cost reduction for employees, it is also becoming clear that mental health issues can decrease productivity, making health-oriented business administration and mental health issues inseparable. Furthermore, the increase in suicides among young people and mental health problems due to the isolation of the elderly people are becoming a serious social problem.

On the other hand, ROHTO Pharmaceutical is a company with a history of over 125 years. Since its founding, the comapny has developed its business mainly in eye drops, gastrointestinal drugs, and topical medications, and has focused on the skincare field since the 2000s. In recent years, the company has expanded its business areas into new fields such as regenerative medicine and agriculture. Under the comprehensive management vision 2030 “Connect for Well-being”, the company aims to contribute to the health and happiness of people around the world. ROHTO Pharmaceutical actively promotes initiatives that contribute to extending healthy life expectancy towards the realization of a sustainable society. In this context, by integrating the knowledge, technology, resources, and cultures etc. of both companies, we aim to create new value in the areas including mental health field.

About PST Inc.
Company Name: PST Inc.
Location: Industry & Trade Center Building 905, 2 Yamashita-cho, Naka-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture 231-0023 Japan
Founded: February 14, 2012
CEO: Hiroshi Otsuka
Business: Research and development of Vocal Biomarker Technology based on voice pathologic analysis technology, research and development and sales of the voice analysis platform “VOISLOG®” for the healthcare field, research and development and sales of program medical devices (Software as a Medical Device, SaMD) using Vocal Biomarker Technology for the medical field (related company: PST Medical Inc.), home-visit nursing business (related company: UIX Inc.), research and development and sales of recovery solution-related products, etc.
URL: https://www.medical-pst.com/

About ROHTO Pharmaceutical
Company Name: ROHTO Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
Headquarters: 1-8-1, Tatsumi-nishi, Ikuno-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture 544-8666 Japan
Founded: February 22, 1899
President: Masashi Sugimoto
Established: September 15, 1949
Number of Employees: 1,687 (non-consolidated), 7,259 (consolidated) as of March 2024
Main Business: Manufacturer and marketer of pharmaceutical products, cosmetics and functional foods
URL: https://www.ROHTO.co.jp/

What is Vocal Biomarker Technology?
“Vocal Biomarker Technology” is a technology developed by PST over more than 10 years under the mission of “Unlocking the secrets of voice”. Many mental and physical changes caused by diseases or stress affect the elements that produce the voice and manifest as “voice symptoms”. PST has focused on the fact that “the original sound of the voice is produced by the vocal cords, which are difficult to intentionally change due to vagus nerve control, and by exhalation.” and through various studies, we have found many features (quantified physical characteristics) and developed Vocal Biomarkers for each disease and symptom.

Contact Information
PST Inc. Public Relations
E-mail: press@medical-pst.com