Activity is intensifying across the endoscopy value chain, from upstream to downstream. Following 3Dマトリックス' move into profitability, business spin-offs, partnerships and acquisitions are advancing simultaneously in Japan and overseas.
The endoscopy theme is seeing a shift in the direction of capital, from upstream to midstream and downstream, following 3Dマトリックス' results for the fiscal year ending April 2026, when its commercialized products achieved profitability for the first time and sales in the endoscopy segment grew sharply in the United States. U.S. product sales nearly doubled year on year, driving demand for related products including hemostatic agents and therapeutic devices.
In November 2025, Kaneka acquired the medical equipment business from ZEON and is expected to expand its share of the domestic market under the Zeon Medical name. In the same month, Sumitomo Bakelite partnered with Olympus Marketing to sell colorectal and gastroduodenal stents, beginning domestic sales in December 2025. HOYA also spun off its endoscopy business into PENTAX Medical LLC effective 1 May 2026. This has prompted a reassessment of the division of roles among industry participants, highlighting a trend in which businesses are being spun off and integrated simultaneously.
On the demand side, Eiken Chemical's fecal occult blood testing maintains a 68% share of the domestic market and is expected to be adopted for nationwide colorectal cancer screening in the United Kingdom from July 2026 and in France from January 2026. As the gateway to screening expands globally, attention is focused on the resulting increase in the overall pool of demand for endoscopy-related products, including scopes, hemostatic agents and cleaning agents.
Meanwhile, Olympus was affected by approximately ¥30 billion from an FDA-related import alert and the company's voluntary suspension of shipments, and adjusted profit for the fiscal year ending March 2026 declined year on year. For the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2027, the company expects revenue of ¥240.4 billion, operating profit of ¥28.9 billion and profit attributable to owners of the parent of ¥19.1 billion, representing substantial increases in both revenue and profit, although uncertainty remains over the profitability of the product portfolio as a whole. Overall, the article takes a broad approach, covering stocks from upstream to downstream based on the view that investors cannot succeed by following only the device manufacturers.