Rigaku and SPERA PHARMA Initiate Strategic Partnership to Advanced Pharmaceutical Development

Rigaku Corporation, a Group company of Rigaku Holdings Corporation (headquarters: Akishima, Tokyo; CEO: Jun Kawakami; hereinafter “Rigaku”), and SPERA PHARMA, Inc. (headquarters: Osaka; President & Representative Director: Keitaro Iwaki; hereinafter “SPERA PHARMA”) have initiated a strategic partnership aimed at accelerating and transforming pharmaceutical development by leveraging the two companies’ cutting-edge technologies and extensive expertise.  

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Left: Keitaro Iwaki, President & Representative Director, SPERA PHARMA; Right: Jun Kawakami, President & CEO, Rigaku

SPERA PHARMA will use XtaLAB Synergy-ED, an integrated platform for electronic diffraction provided by Rigaku, for contract analytical services, thereby offering customers robust support in pharmaceutical development.  

The XtaLAB Synergy-ED incorporates 3D ED/MicroED¹, which is utilized for the structure analysis of substances, including microscopic crystals and minute quantities of crystalline powder. This sophisticated technology provides sufficiently high resolution to determine atomic-level structures, enabling the detailed elucidation of molecular structures of organic compounds and similar substances.  

SPERA PHARMA is currently the world’s only company in the pharmaceutical industry offering contract analytical services with the XtaLAB Synergy-ED. Rigaku will extend technical support to SPERA PHARMA for its contract analytical operations.  

Furthermore, the two companies are collaborating closely to advance research utilizing the XtaLAB Synergy-ED and to actively share information on the application methods and analytical technologies.  

Through this partnership, Rigaku and SPERA PHARMA aim to provide robust support at the forefront of pharmaceutical development, playing pivotal roles in pioneering the future of medicine.  

1: Stands for “Three-Dimensional Electron Diffraction/Microcrystal Electron Diffraction.” A method for analysis of crystalline structures using electronic diffraction.  

Example of Joint Research and Use
“Detection of Hydrogen Atoms Using Only 3D ED/MicroED and Contribution to Structure Determining Salts or Cocrystals,” Crystal Growth ＆ Design, 2025, 25, 1, 129–135
URL: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.cgd.4c01421
(Registration required to read.)  

About the Rigaku Group  

Since its establishment in 1951, the engineering professionals of the Rigaku group have been dedicated to benefiting society with leading-edge technologies, notably including its core fields of X-ray and thermal analysis. With a market presence in over 90 countries and some 2,000 employees from 9 global operations, Rigaku is a solution partner in industry and research analysis institutes. Our overseas sales ratio has reached approximately 70% while sustaining an exceptionally high market share in Japan. Together with our customers, we continue to develop and grow. As applications expand from semiconductors, electronic materials, batteries, environment, resources, energy, life science to other high-tech fields, Rigaku realizes innovations “To Improve Our World by Powering New Perspectives.”
For details, please visit rigaku-holdings.com/english  

About SPERA PHARMA  

SPERA PHARMA was established in July 2017 in the Juso area of Yodogawa-ku, Osaka. It is a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) specializing in Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) pharmaceutical sciences, including process chemistry, formulation development, and analytical development, as well as the manufacturing of investigational drugs. The company’s expert research team, which has extensive experience and proven results, works flexibly in all phases of pharmaceutical development from the early stage to final drug application. SPERA PHARMA is a one-stop provider of comprehensive services and solutions to meet customer needs. For further information, please visit spera-pharma.co.jp/en  

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