Mebix

Mebix Inc., established in May 2001 as Medical Support and rebranded in December 2002, is a specialized Contract Research Organization (CRO) operating within the Japanese healthcare sector. The company’s name is a blend of "Medical" and "Bioinformatics," reflecting its core mission to contribute to medicine and public health by providing new frameworks for clinical trials. Mebix offers comprehensive, one-stop support for clinical research, guiding clients from the initial planning and design stages through to data analysis and publication.

The firm primarily serves pharmaceutical companies and academic medical associations, providing the operational backbone for post-marketing surveillance and real-world evidence studies. Its business model is centered on offering outsourced clinical research services on a contractual basis. A key event in the company's history occurred in April 2009, when it became a subsidiary of M3, Inc., a major operator of the medical professional portal "m3.com." This integration allows Mebix to leverage M3's network of over 270,000 physicians to enhance study recruitment and operational efficiency, a strategy they term "e-lization" of clinical research. The current leadership includes Chairman Minoru Hokai and President & CEO Hiroki Murabayashi, who joined in 2015 after a career in clinical development at a Japanese pharmaceutical company and another CRO.

Mebix's service portfolio is extensive, covering everything from study design, protocol creation, and ethics committee submissions to data management, statistical analysis, and medical writing. A cornerstone of its offering is the proprietary Electronic Data Capture (EDC) system, the "CapTool® series," which was co-developed with a national university medical school to ensure it meets the practical needs of physicians. This system facilitates 24/7 web-based case data registration and instantaneous allocation. Mebix is also advancing its "Clinical Research 2.0" initiative, which utilizes digital technologies like AI, real-world databases such as JAMDAS, and Patient-Reported Outcome (PRO) tools to conduct more sophisticated and efficient studies. In response to regulatory changes, the company launched "Cloud IC," an electronic informed consent system, to digitize and streamline the patient consent process.

Keywords: Contract Research Organization, CRO, clinical research support, clinical trials, real-world evidence, post-marketing surveillance, Electronic Data Capture, EDC, M3 group, pharmaceutical services, medical research, bioinformatics, data management, statistical analysis, study design, protocol development, patient-reported outcomes, PRO, ePRO, healthcare IT, clinical data, Japan, medical informatics, regulatory compliance, trial management