Line, a Japanese subsidiary of Naver, has joined hands with Sony Corp to set up an online medical business in Japan.
According to Line on the 15th, Line established Line Healthcare, a joint venture with M3, a Japanese medical platform company. Shinichiro Muroyama, head of Line business strategy division, is the CEO of Line Health Care. Its capital was $1.56M USD (170 M Yen), and Line and M3 invested 51% and 49% respectively. M3 is an affiliate of Sony and runs M3.com, a website specializing in medical care, and is considered an innovative company in the Japanese pharmaceutical industry. It also ranked fifth in the list of the most innovative companies by Forbes, a U.S. economic magazine Forbes.
Line Health Care is planning to apply M3 medical services to mobile messenger lines. Starting with telemedicine counseling service this year, it is planning to introduce prescription drug delivery service.
