Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui", Head Office: Tokyo, President and CEO: Kenichi Hori) has participated as a lead investor in a Series B round financing of Koios Medical, Inc. ("Koios"), a U.S.-based healthcare technology and digital medicine company. This investment was facilitated by Mitsui's wholly-owned subsidiary, MBK Healthcare Management ("MHM"), which is Mitsui's dedicated healthcare operating platform. MHM is also the largest shareholder of IHH Healthcare Berhad (IHH, KLSE: 5225, SGX: Q0F), a leading premium healthcare provider operating 80 hospitals in 10 countries with more than 15,000 licensed beds.

Takeshi Akutsu, Chief Operating Officer of Mitsui's Wellness Business Unit, said, "Today, the global healthcare industry is facing many difficulties, such as rising medical costs and a shortage of healthcare workers. At Mitsui, we believe that these issues can be addressed by harnessing the potential of untapped data within the healthcare system, as well as through active collaboration between traditional healthcare stakeholders and new businesses on cutting edge technological solutions." "In line with this belief, both Mitsui and MHM have been actively exploring the health tech start-up space, with the aim of strengthening Mitsui's healthcare assets and expanding our healthcare data business by investing in innovative start-ups that transform care and harness the power of data within our portfolio." added Akutsu.

With regulatory clearances from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and CE Marks Koios develops AI-powered clinical decision support software for radiologists, endocrinologists, and other trained physicians and technicians, which are vendor agnostic solutions that can be integrated into most picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) workstations for breast and thyroid ultrasound analysis and reporting. Koios's software aims to empower physicians in their decision-making process, and enhance the patient experience, identify cancers in earlier stages, reduce unnecessary procedures and minimize the stress associated with false positive findings.

"AI-enabled decision support solutions such as Koios's are increasingly important to alleviate the rising pressures in radiology and healthcare systems worldwide brought on by ageing populations, escalating healthcare costs and a healthcare workforce shortage," commented Takeshi Saito, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of MHM. "Koios's focus on improving both the physician's and individual's experience aligns this investment with Mitsui's and MHM's common goal of transforming patient care. MHM aims to facilitate collaborations between Mitsui's existing portfolio companies and Koios, as well as help Koios expand its presence globally to enable better patient care."

Mitsui believes it is important to transform the healthcare system into a more patient centric one, and promote the prevention of illnesses and create the environment, in where people can enjoy both physical and mental well-being. To establish "wellness" fulfilled by three key elements – healthcare, prevention and well-being – Mitsui is pursuing to create various businesses through integrating its tangible assets and digital solutions.

Wellness, the new wealth—We will create a brighter future in which the wellness we offer provides new wealth to people around the world.

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