Fujifilm Healthcare Americas—the result of last fall’s combination of Fujifilm Medical Systems and the recently acquired Hitachi Healthcare Americas—has its five-year plan set.
The Massachusetts-based devicemaker inked a deal earlier this year that will offer up its range of endoscopes and accompanying imaging software, plus training resources for all of the technology, to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), Fujifilm announced this week.
According to the DOD’s records, the contract was awarded in February, when Fujifilm beat out more than 50 other applicants to secure the five-year deal. During that time, it’ll be eligible to reap up to $450 million in exchange for an indefinite quantity of its medical technologies.
“Today’s announcement follows other significant 2021 multiyear federal awards, most notably a four-year standardization award to provide Fujifilm’s innovative Persona C mobile fluoroscopy system for the U.S. Army and a 10-year standardization award to provide Fujifilm’s innovative digital X-ray systems for the U.S. naval fleet,” said Lou Cavallaro, national director of Fujifilm’s government business.
The latest agreement will make Fujifilm’s endoscopy equipment available to all medical treatment facilities run by the federal government. That includes not just the hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers operated by the military but also those under the jurisdiction of the Veterans Health Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the Indian Health Service and more.
The contract was issued through the Philadelphia-based Troop Support arm of the DOD’s Defense Logistics Agency. That branch is responsible for providing clothing, construction materials and medical and pharmaceutical resources to the U.S.’s military and government partners.
Throughout the five-year contract period, Fujifilm said it will offer up its entire portfolio of endoscopy tools with an eye toward slashing the amount of time it typically takes to reach a cancer diagnosis.
The company specifically singled out its 700 Series colonoscopes, which can be adapted to a patient’s individual anatomy and needs, and its Eluxeo imaging tool, which is equipped with four LED lights to provide a clearer real-time picture throughout an endoscopic procedure.
“Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States, the third most common diagnosed cancer among indigenous Americans and the fourth most common diagnosed cancer among veterans,” said Taisuke Fujita, vice president of Fujifilm’s endoscopy segment. “With our endoscopy portfolio, we hope to transform the speed and accuracy with which CRC is identified, addressed and managed at all federally managed healthcare sites.”