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Combining at-home saliva glycated albumin testing with digital health through the post office network to prevent the aggravation of lifestyle-related diseases and extend healthy life expectancy.
A New Regional Healthcare Starting from the Post Office
Ozu Town, Kumamoto Prefecture (Mayor: Hideki Kaneda), Japan Post Co., Ltd. (post offices within Ozu Town, Kumamoto Prefecture), and PROVIGATE Inc. (Headquarters: Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, CEO: Koshin Sekimizu) concluded a tripartite agreement on July 9, 2026, regarding the “Social Demonstration Project for Blood Glucose Management Support Utilizing At-Home Saliva Testing.”
This project is implemented with the support of the DMP (Demonstration for Mass Production) phase of the “Deep Tech Start-up Support Fund / Deep Tech Start-up Support Program (DTSU)” by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).
Local governments, Japan Post, and deep-tech startups will bring their respective strengths together to promote the social demonstration of a new regional healthcare model that integrates “at-home testing,” “the post office network,” and “digital health.”
This project will verify a system that supports residents’ health promotion in their daily lives by combining the “visualization of blood glucose status” using salivary glycated albumin (GA) collected at home, specimen logistics utilizing the post office network, and continuous health support through a smartphone app.
Based on the knowledge gained in Ozu Town, we aim to build a sustainable regional healthcare model in Japan, with an eye toward expanding to the entire Kumamoto Prefecture and eventually to local governments nationwide.
Regional Healthcare Now Requires a New System
In Japan, it is estimated that the number of people strongly suspected of having diabetes and those for whom the possibility cannot be ruled out totals approximately 20 million. Lifestyle-related diseases, including diabetes, not only shorten healthy life expectancy but are also major factors in increasing medical costs.
On the other hand,with
And the like, the environment surrounding regional healthcare in Japan is undergoing major change. From now on, rather than just “seeking treatment after getting sick,” a shift toward
a system where each resident understands their own health status on an everyday basis, and community-wide support exists health promotion
is required. This project is a social demonstration to verify the feasibility of this new regional healthcare model.
Why the Post Office?
The post office is one of Japan’s largest regional infrastructures, spanning approximately 24,000 locations nationwide. Through postal, financial, and administrative services, it supports local communities in every corner of the country as the most familiar presence in the daily lives of local residents.
By utilizing the post office network in this project, we will verify its potential as:
It is also a challenge towards establishing a new regional healthcare model where the post office becomes a hub that supports the health of local residents.
What is Salivary Glycated Albumin (GA)?
Health checkups are conducted about once a year. Outpatient visits are once every few months. However, lifestyle habits such as diet and exercise change daily. To improve lifestyle habits, it is important to be able to grasp “how the results have changed” in a timely manner.
PROVIGATE focuses on “glycated albumin (GA),” an indirect indicator of average blood glucose, and is advancing the research and development of technology to continuously monitor blood glucose status using saliva collected at home.
In this project, residents will conduct weekly mail-in tests for salivary GA, and the test results will be visualized on a smartphone application, thereby supporting behavior change among the participants.
Overview of the Social Demonstration
In this project, the following activities will be implemented in Ozu Town:
Roles of the Three Parties
Ozu Town, Kumamoto Prefecture
Ozu Town is responsible for coordinating with regional health policies, informing residents, recruiting participants, and adjusting with related organizations, thereby linking this project to community health promotion.
Japan Post Co., Ltd.
Japan Post will utilize the post office network within the town for public relations activities, specimen logistics, and creating touchpoints with local residents, thereby supporting this project as regional infrastructure.
PROVIGATE Inc.
PROVIGATE will handle the planning and operation of the entire project, as well as the saliva testing service, smartphone app, user support, data analysis, and project evaluation.
Features of This Project
1. A new regional healthcare model created in collaboration with local government, the post office, and a deep-tech startup
We will establish a health support model that stays close to the daily lives of residents by integrating local government health programs, the post office network, and deep tech originating from Universities.
2. At-home health management without the need for blood sampling
We aim to realize a new health management system where residents continuously check their blood glucose status using saliva collected at home, thus leading to lifestyle improvements.
3. Social implementation utilizing the post office network
We will verify a system that is easy for anyone to use by utilizing community-based post offices as points of contact for logistics, public relations, and resident interaction.
4. Social implementation of deep tech by NEDO DTSU
This project is an initiative to connect research results to social implementation as part of the research and development in the DMP phase of the NEDO “Deep Tech Start-up Support Fund / Deep Tech Start-up Support Program (DTSU).”
5. Aiming for a model capable of nationwide expansion
Based on the knowledge gained through this demonstration, we aim for nationwide expansion as a new regional healthcare model that collaborates with local governments, regional infrastructure, and digital health.
The Future This Project Aims For
Lifestyle-related diseases are not issues that can be solved by medical institutions alone. By providing residents understanding of their own everyday health status and accumulating small improvements in lifestyle habits, preventive actions will limit the aggravation of diseas. will lead to the prevention of future aggravation.
This project combines:
to aim for the establishment of a new regional healthcare model in which residents can comfortably continue health management. By linking community-based administration and post offices with the latest digital health technologies, we will verify the potential of a new social infrastructure that “supports health promotion across the entire community.”
We will expand the knowledge gained from this demonstration nationwide and contribute to extending healthy life expectancy and realizing sustainable regional healthcare.
Future Schedule
We will begin resident-participatory social demonstrations from FY2026, and proceed with verification regarding:
Furthermore, based on the knowledge gained through this demonstration, we aim to expand nationwide as a new regional healthcare model in collaboration with local governments, regional infrastructure, and digital health companies.
About DTSU
This program aims to significantly promote investment in deep-tech startups and the creation of unicorns, while also keeping an eye on the global market. It intends to accelerate the business growth of deep-tech startups, the establishment, commercialization, and social implementation of their innovative technologies, and the creation of new added value associated with them.
About PROVIGATE Inc.
PROVIGATE Inc. is a deep-tech startup originating from the University of Tokyo.
With the vision of “unlocking the power of behavior change,” we are advancing the research and development and social implementation of blood glucose management support services using glycated albumin (GA) as an indicator.
By integrating saliva testing technology that does not require blood sampling with digital health, we aim to contribute to the prevention of aggravation of lifestyle-related diseases including diabetes, the extension of healthy life expectancy, and the realization of sustainable healthcare.
Company Overview
Company Name
PROVIGATE Inc.
Location
Todaimae HiRAKU GATE 5F
2-3-10 Mukougaoka, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo
Representative
Representative Director and CEO Koshin Sekimizu
Business Description
Development of home blood glucose monitoring devices and applications, provision of related services
Contact Information Regarding This Matter
PROVIGATE Inc. (Contact: Horioka)
https://provigate.com/contact/
People may think of glucose monitoring as simple as this: "Diabetes is a disease of blood sugar. This is why people with diabetes use glucometer."
However, it's not that simple. Blood sugar measurement has diverse objectives, including diagnosing diabetes, dosing self-injection of insulin, avoiding hypoglycemia due to excessive drug efficacy, and behavior change.
You must choose the appropriate blood sugar measurement method for your purpose.
There are two types of self-blood glucose measurement methods: SMBG (Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose), which is widely used, and CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitoring), which has become popular in recent years.
These two blood glucose measurement methods are designed mainly for patients who self-inject insulin and other injectable drugs.
Until now, there has been no simple and daily method for measuring blood glucose at home other than these two methods.
Some drugs, such as insulin, are very potent and can cause dangerous hypoglycemia if the dosage is incorrect.
Therefore, for example, those who use insulin must measure their blood glucose accurately before self-injection at home and carefully determine the dose.
After injection, if there are signs of hypoglycemia, it is necessary to measure blood glucose immediately. If necessary, you need to take some sugar to avoid hypoglycemia.
However, both methods have an issue with invasiveness. In addition, they cost a lot. CGM costs at least $60 and needs to be replaced every two weeks, which is also a significant economic burden. SMBG requires frequent measurements, so the total cost becomes significant when accumulated.
Unfortunately, SMBG and CGM are not suitable for everyone due to invasiveness and cost.
At Provigate, we are looking for individuals who genuinely care about each user, are passionate about supporting health, and want to work together to create a new future for healthcare and medicine.
If you’re someone who wants to leverage your experience as a healthcare professional, enjoys the fusion of technology and medicine, and is eager to take on new challenges, we’d love for you to join us!
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