Biodiversity Policy

Recognizing the importance of biodiversity in business as a life sciences company, we strive for biodiversity preservation and the sustainable use of biological resources.

1. Scope of application
This Policy applies to all employees of Seikagaku Corporation and its subsidiaries (including directors, executive officers, employees, contract employees, part-time workers, dispatch workers, etc.).

2. Corporate management that gives consideration to biodiversity
We practice corporate management that gives consideration to biodiversity by identifying impacts that business activities have on biodiversity throughout the supply chain and striving to minimize impacts.

3. Biodiversity preservation through environmental impact reduction
We strive to reduce environmental impacts that have a negative effect on biodiversity by engaging in climate change mitigation, pollution prevention, resource recycling, and effective use of energy and water.

4. Raising awareness of biodiversity preservation
We strive to raise awareness of biodiversity preservation and contribute to creating a society that fosters biodiversity through communication with stakeholders.

5. Legal compliance
We comply with the laws, regulations, and agreements of the countries and regions in which we operate and strive for the fair use of biological resources, including genetic resources.

6. Information sharing
We proactively disclose our own activities related to biodiversity preservation.

April 1, 2023

President & CEO

Horseshoe Crab Conservation Activities of Associates of Cape Cod, Inc.

Because our US subsidiary, Associates of Cape Cod, Inc. (ACC), manufactures and sells reagents using a substance extracted from horseshoe crab blood cells as a raw material, it continuously engages in horseshoe crab conservation activities to protect this precious natural resource. As part of such efforts, ACC in 2019 began providing assistance for activities to maintain the population of Asian horseshoe crabs, which are at risk of extinction. Maintaining the population involves growing survivable juveniles produced by in vitro fertilization of sperm and eggs and releasing them into the natural environment. ACC has long engaged in this activity and has accumulated related technology and expertise. 

This assistance will be made available to academic institutions and private sector researchers around the world. Organizations receiving assistance are granted a license to use intellectual property relating to horseshoe crabs owned by ACC free of charge and are also provided with instructions regarding in vitro fertilization methods and training in the operation of highly efficient aquaculture equipment. By end-December 2022, ACC had released some 1.2 million American horseshoe crabs in the state of Massachusetts.

In parallel with these conservation activities, ACC has also focused on development of gene-recombinant endotoxin-detecting reagents that can be manufactured without using blood harvested from horseshoe crabs.

PyroSmart NextGen, launched by ACC for sale in overseas markets in April 2021 and launched by Seikagaku for sale in Japan in May, was commercialized by ACC based on the results of R&D conducted for many years at Seikagaku.

Since PyroSmart NextGen follows the same cascade pathway as naturally sourced products, the same test methods and instrumentation can be used when the product is substituted for traditional naturally sourced reagents. ACC seeks to contribute to sustained environmental conservation by providing the option of choosing a gene-recombinant reagent in addition to taking measures to maintain the population of horseshoe crabs.

The Group will continue to actively support activities to conserve horseshoe crab populations, which have contributed considerably to the medical and pharmaceutical science fields, and strive to use this resource in a sustainable manner.

Released American horseshoe crabs
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Released American horseshoe crabs
PyroSmart NextGen
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PyroSmart NextGen