QLife

What QLife does

QLife Inc. is a Tokyo-based medical media and B2B healthcare marketing company, founded in 2006 and operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of M3, Inc. (TSE Prime: 2413) since 2016. The company runs a portfolio of consumer-facing medical information properties — including the flagship QLife portal, hospital search covering approximately 170,000 facilities, a medication database of 20,000+ drugs, and disease-specific vertical media such as IBD Plus, Genetics Plus, Autoimmune Plus (launched July 2025), and Himan Labo — alongside healthcare-professional services (QLifePro, QLifeBOX for medical image sharing) and clinic management SaaS (QLinic Plus, including the AI-assisted MEO Plus for Google business profile management).

QLife's primary revenue engine is enterprise B2B marketing services sold to pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Offerings span disease awareness campaigns (websites, LINE tools, apps, paper materials), patient and HCP research, banner/email advertising, and — most distinctively — clinical trial participant recruitment using a proprietary 880,000+ member panel and a 71,000+ LINE clinical trial subscriber channel. Physician-facing recruitment additionally leverages the parent group's m3.com platform, which reaches approximately 290,000 Japanese physicians (~90% of the country's doctors) via the 治験君 (Chiken-kun) matching service. QLife also co-develops branded patient-engagement LINE chatbots with major pharma clients (e.g., NMOSD chatbot with Chugai, E-Ben Note with EA Pharma, MASLD/MASH initiative with Novo Nordisk) and licenses its content to enterprise platforms (Ono Medical Navi, KDDI, Konica Minolta infomity, Sankei Living, CA Mobile, ONE COMPATH). With 11–50 employees, registered capital of approximately ¥149.6M, and no publicly disclosed revenue (financials are consolidated within M3), QLife operates as a focused, product-and-data-rich niche player in the Japanese healthcare marketing value chain.

Name

QLife

Legal name

株式会社QLife

Website

https://qlife.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

QLife is a Tokyo-based B2B healthcare marketing company (M3 Group subsidiary) that sells disease awareness campaigns, patient research, and clinical trial recruitment services to pharmaceutical clients, leveraging an 880,000-member trial panel and disease-specific consumer media.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthcare Marketing Services

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Patient Education, Content & Personalized Journey Orchestration (HLACAEAE)

Keywords

• Medical marketing services
• Clinical trial recruitment
• Healthcare media platforms
• Patient recruitment services
• Hospital search database

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Pharmaceutical/Medical Device Company Marketing Solutions: QLife's primary revenue stream comes from providing integrated marketing solutions to pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers. Services include disease awareness campaign planning and execution (websites, apps, LINE tools, paper materials), patient and healthcare professional research, banner advertising, newsletter/mail magazine distribution, content licensing, and clinical trial participant recruitment. This is sold as project-based and retainer contracts to pharma companies seeking to reach patients and HCPs.
2. Clinical Trial Participant Recruitment Services: QLife charges pharmaceutical companies for recruiting clinical trial participants using its panel (880,000+ members), LINE channels, disease-specific media properties, and call center operations. Services cover the full recruitment workflow: IRB submission materials, recruitment page creation and promotion, call center setup/operation, and paper material production/distribution. QLife also offers a clinical trial matching service (治験君) for physician recruitment via m3.com's 290,000+ doctor network.
3. Media Advertising (QLife Portal): QLife generates advertising revenue from its consumer-facing media properties (QLife general portal with 500,000+ monthly PVs, disease-specific media sites). Banner advertising and newsletter/mail magazine placements are sold to pharmaceutical companies targeting patients and consumers. Membership exceeds 200,000 across properties.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

QLife operates a medical media platform providing hospital search, medication search, disease information, and clinical trial matching services for consumers and healthcare professionals in Japan. The company delivers targeted marketing solutions, disease awareness campaigns, content supply, and clinical trial patient recruitment services to pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers. It also offers a clinical trial panel of more than 880,000 members, LINE-based medication and symptom tracking tools, and a physician-only medical file-sharing platform.

Product overview

QLife operates as a comprehensive medical media platform with a multi-site portfolio spanning consumer-facing portals (QLife main site, disease-specific media for IBD, hereditary diseases, autoimmune diseases, and obesity), professional services (QLifePro for healthcare workers, QLifeBOX for medical image sharing), patient engagement tools (hospital/medication search, clinical trial matching), and enterprise solutions (disease awareness campaigns, patient research, recruitment services). The platform serves three constituencies: general consumers seeking medical information, healthcare professionals, and pharmaceutical/medical device companies. Key products include hospital search covering 180,000+ facilities, medication search with 20,000+ drugs, a clinical trial panel with 880,000+ members, LINE-based patient management tools, and clinic management solutions (QLinic Plus). The company emphasizes expert-reviewed content, disease-specific vertical media, and data-driven marketing solutions for healthcare stakeholders.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• QLife治験情報: 治験情報の提供と被験者募集支援サービス
• QLinicプラス
• QLifeBox
• QLifePro
• 治験君
• イーベンノート

Products and services

• QLife Hospital Search (QLife 病院検索) Consumer-facing hospital search database that helps patients locate medical institutions, view hospital information, and access doctor details across Japan.
• QLife Medication Search (QLife お薬検索) Online medication and drug information search tool that provides pharmaceutical product details for consumers and healthcare professionals.
• Clinical Trial Matching (治験君 / 治験情報) Clinical trial information and patient recruitment service that matches patients to ongoing trials through QLife's panel infrastructure for pharmaceutical sponsors.
• QLifePro Medical professional portal providing doctors and pharmacists with curated medical news, drug information, and clinical resources.
• QLifeBOX Medical file-sharing platform that enables physicians to securely transmit medical records and images between hospitals and clinics.
• QLinic Plus (MEO Plus) AI-powered clinic management and MEO (Map Engine Optimization) service that helps clinics improve their online presence and patient engagement.
• LINE-based Health and Medication Management Tools LINE official account health tools that enable medication adherence tracking, symptom journaling (e.g., bowel movement tracking via E-Ben Note), and patient support for specific conditions such as neuromyelitis optica.
• Disease-Specific Media Platforms Vertical disease-information media platforms (e.g., IBD Plus, Genetics Plus, Autoimmune Disease Plus) that provide patients with condition-specific news, treatment information, and community content.
• Himan Labo Consumer-facing diet and lifestyle media platform delivering content on weight management, nutrition, and wellness.
• Patient Solutions for Pharmaceutical Companies (患者向けソリューション) Enterprise marketing and disease-awareness solution for pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers covering patient education, campaign planning, content production, and digital promotion.
• Content Supply Service (コンテンツ供給サービス) Service that licenses and supplies QLife-produced medical and health content to partner media outlets and external platforms.

Quantifiable outcome

• QLife supported approximately 100 clinical trials within 2 years of launching its subject recruitment service
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Novo Nordisk Pharma Co., Ltd. (ノボ ノルディスク ファーマ株式会社)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerQLife and Novo Nordisk Pharma have an ongoing partnership for MASLD/MASH (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease/steatohepatitis) disease awareness in Japan. The partnership includes a Shizuoka Prefecture-based awareness survey on fatty liver and MASLD/MASH (conducted July 2025), collaborative disease education content, and support for nationwide MASLD/MASH awareness initiatives as part of Shizuoka Prefecture's liver disease prevention program. A formal partnership agreement was signed on March 21, 2025 between Novo Nordisk Pharma and Shizuoka Prefecture.
• EA Pharma Co., Ltd. (EAファーマ株式会社)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEA Pharma and QLife jointly developed 'イーベンノート' (E-ben Note), a LINE-based service for daily constipation, exercise, and diet tracking. EA Pharma sponsored a QLife survey on ulcerative colitis patient symptoms (2020). The partnership focuses on patient support tools for gastrointestinal conditions.
• Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (中外製薬株式会社)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerChugai Pharmaceutical and QLife jointly developed an NMOSD (Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder) LINE chatbot that sends appointment and medication reminders to patients. The service, '視神経脊髄炎 on LINE', enables patients to configure notification timing for hospital visits and medication schedules.
• Boehringer Ingelheim Japan Co., Ltd. (日本ベーリンガーインゲルハイム株式会社)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBoehringer Ingelheim Japan and QLife collaborated on a survey (2024) targeting patients with interstitial lung disease-associated designated intractable diseases and their treating physicians. The survey examined awareness and utilization of Japan's，难病医療費助成制度 (designated intractable disease medical expense subsidy system), with results published in Japanese medical journals.
• Kissei Pharmaceutical Industry Co., Ltd. (キッセイ薬品工業株式会社)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKissei Pharmaceutical has sponsored multiple QLife surveys including: Sjogren's syndrome patient survey (2018), diabetes patient post-prandial blood glucose survey (2019), and hemodialysis patient pruritus survey (2024). QLife also conducted blood dialysis patient surveys published in the Japan Society for Dialysis Therapy journal.
• Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (小野薬品工業株式会社)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorContent supply partnership — Ono Pharmaceutical's 'ONO MEDICAL NAVI' patient portal features QLife-generated health content, distributing QLife's medical information to a broader patient audience.
• KDDI Corporation (KDDI株式会社)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorContent supply partnership — KDDI's 'スマホ de ドック' (Smartphone Health Check) service features QLife-generated health content, enabling QLife to reach KDDI's mobile subscriber base.
• Konica Minolta, Inc. (コニカミノルタ株式会社)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorContent supply partnership — Konica Minolta's 'infomity' healthcare information portal features QLife content, expanding QLife's content distribution to corporate health management audiences.
• Sankei Living Shinbun Co., Ltd. (株式会社サンケイリビング新聞社)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorContent supply partnership — the 'リビングWeb' lifestyle portal features QLife health content, reaching consumers through the Sankei Living media network.
• CA Mobile Co., Ltd. (シーエー・モバイル)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorContent supply partnership — CA Mobile's '家庭の医学＋薬辞典' (Home Medicine + Drug Dictionary) mobile app features QLife medical and medication content.
• ONE COMPATH, Inc. (株式会社 ONE COMPATH)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorContent/data partnership — Mapion location-based service integrates QLife's hospital and medical facility search data, enabling QLife content to be discovered through map/location searches.
• M3, Inc. (エムスリー株式会社)coreOthersQLife is a wholly-owned subsidiary of M3, Inc. (listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime market). M3 operates m3.com with 290,000+ physician members (approximately 90% of Japan's doctors). QLife leverages the m3.com platform for physician-targeted clinical trial matching (治験君). QLife also shares data with M3 and 3H Medi-Solution for service provision, including medical professional member data and general consumer member data.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Welby: Welby operates a Japanese PHR and digital health platform focused on chronic disease patient engagement and self-management. Emerging player with partial overlap in condition-specific patient engagement, though QLife focuses on content and recruitment vs. Welby's tracking tools.
• CureApp: CureApp develops prescription digital therapeutics in Japan covering areas like nicotine dependence and hypertension. Adjacent emerging player addressing Japanese pharma companies with patient-engagement solutions, though at smaller scale and different regulatory category.

Others

• JMDC: JMDC provides health insurance claims data and healthcare analytics in Japan to pharma and payers. Adjacent data/analytics player in the same healthcare ecosystem, with related pharma-commercial data assets but not directly competing in media or recruitment.

Direct peers

• CareNet: CareNet provides medical news, clinical reference content, and physician-targeted marketing for pharma companies in Japan. Highly comparable to QLifePro and QLife's overall medical media for healthcare professionals.
• MedPeer: MedPeer operates one of Japan's largest doctor communities (MedPeer AskDoctors) and a pharma marketing platform. It is the closest direct peer to QLife, sharing the B2B pharma marketing model and physician/patient media reach, with overlapping disease information content.
• Doctors File: Doctors File operates a clinic/facility search and information platform in Japan serving patients and pharma. Directly comparable to QLife's hospital search and disease-specific facility finder offerings.
• MIC Medical: MIC Medical is a Japanese medical marketing/PR firm serving pharmaceutical clients with disease awareness campaigns, content, and events. Direct overlap with QLife's pharma marketing solutions business.

Broad incumbents

• CMIC Holdings: CMIC is the largest Japanese CRO offering clinical trial monitoring, site management, and patient recruitment services. Broadly incumbent in clinical trial services with overlapping patient recruitment offerings to QLife.
• IQVIA Japan: IQVIA is a global clinical research and pharma services leader operating in Japan with clinical trial site support, patient recruitment, and real-world data — addressing the same pharma clients as QLife but at vastly greater scale.
• M3 (m3.com): M3 is QLife's parent company and operates m3.com (290,000+ physicians). m3.com is the dominant physician platform QLife leverages — comparable as a broader incumbent offering physician recruitment, marketing, and clinical decision support across the same pharma client base.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/QLifeSQUARE
• Facebookfacebook.com/QLife.inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about QLife