His Majesty King Philippe of Belgium visited Kaneka Eurogentec

On April 28th, His Majesty King Philippe of Belgium visited Kaneka Eurogentec S.A. (Headquarters: Liège, Belgium; President: Lieven Janssens), an affiliate of Kaneka Corporation (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Minoru Tanaka), being accompanied by the Minister-President of the Walloon government, Elio Di Rupo. The King learned more about the key role of Kaneka Eurogentec for the PCR reagents for COVID-19 testing and the development of vaccines and therapies against the novel coronavirus. And the King also exchanged thoughts with the company’s management on the important role and activities of the company and on the prospects of Belgian biotechnology industries, as well as the challenges linked to recruiting and training of highly qualified personnel for the development of cutting-edge technologies. Then the King visited the laboratories where the production processes for the DNA and mRNA molecules are developed, and the manufacturing facilities.

 

※Press release of the Royal Palace of Belgium can be found on the website.（https://www.monarchie.be/fr/agenda/eurogentec）

 

Kaneka Eurogentec was established in 1985 and currently possesses world class technologies in relation to high quality mRNA and plasmid DNA. Since spring last year, at the request of the Belgium government, the company has been supplying PCR reagents for COVID-19 testing to hospitals in Belgium and its neighboring countries. They have also been contracted for the manufacturing of vaccines that use mRNA and plasmid DNA, the development of which is currently being accelerated by global pharmaceutical companies and bio-ventures. In order to strengthen their biopharmaceuticals CDMO business, in October last year Kaneka Eurogentec increased facility capacity and began working with the de Duve Institute of the University of Louvain (UCLouvain) in Belgium on joint research related to the development of innovative production technology.

 

Based on our philosophy of “Kaneka thinks Wellness First”, Kaneka has launched the “Infection Research Team” for promoting research and development of measures against infection diseases such as COVID-19. We will continue to utilize Kaneka’s various technologies to provide solutions for solving health issues.