BIC

What BIC does

BIC Co., Ltd. (株式会社ビーアイシー) is a Japan-based professional services company founded on December 7, 1992, that provides specialized translation and language services to the pharmaceutical, medical device, and academic/research sectors. Its core offering is human translation of regulatory and scientific documents — including CTD application dossiers, CIOMS and MHLW adverse-event reports, package inserts (JPR format), PSURs, FDA submissions, validation documents, medical device manuals, SOPs, and research literature — across approximately nine languages (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Portuguese). Customers are concentrated in the Japanese pharma/medical device industry and number approximately 55 enterprise clients based on the most recent disclosed figure (FY2013).

Name

BIC

Legal name

株式会社ビーアイシー (BIC CO., LTD.)

Website

https://bic.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

BIC Co., Ltd. (ビーアイシー) is a Japan-based translation company founded in 1992 that delivers pharmaceutical, medical-device, and scientific document translation to roughly 55 enterprise clients using proprietary medical dictionaries and specialized checker teams.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Translation Services

NAICS

Translation and Interpretation Services (54193), Translation and Interpretation Services (541930)

SIC

Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)

akta.pro primary industry

Regulatory Intelligence, Labeling & Promotional Compliance (HLAGAKAN)

akta.pro secondary industry

Regulatory Affairs, Labeling & Advertising/Promotion Compliance (HLAJADAI)

Keywords

• Pharmaceutical translation services
• Biomedical translation services
• Regulatory document translation
• Medical device translation
• Native english editing

Headquarters

HQ city

Akasaka

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. 翻訳サービス (Translation Services): Core revenue from pharmaceutical and biomedical translation services, including application documents (CTD), adverse event reports (CIOMS, MHLW formats), package inserts, PSUR, FDA and related regulations, research reports, validation documents, medical device manuals, SOPs, literature, summaries, internal documents, presentations, and websites.
2. ネイティブチェック (Native Check): Native speaker editing and proofreading services for foreign language documents already prepared.
3. テープ起こし・吹き込み (Transcription/Recording): Audio transcription and translation of foreign language lectures, plus native speaker speech recordings.
4. データベース構築 (Database Construction): Custom database creation for adverse events, literature abstracts, and terminology glossaries.
5. 販促資料の企画・制作 (Promotional Materials): Planning and production of promotional materials tailored to client product lineup and sales strategy, including translation through printing and binding.
6. 情報サービス (Information Services): Monthly publication 'Regulations View' covering FDA pharmaceutical regulatory information, plus same-day translation of overseas web news updates.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

BIC is a specialized pharmaceutical and bioscience translation company providing multilingual (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Portuguese) translation of regulatory documents including CTD applications, CIOMS and MHLW adverse event reports, JPR-format package inserts, PSUR, FDA submissions, validation documents, medical device manuals, SOPs, research reports, and clinical/non-clinical literature. The company also offers native English editing, audio transcription and voice-over, custom terminology and adverse event database construction, promotional material production, and an FDA regulatory information monthly publication called Regulations View.

Product overview

BIC (株式会社ビーアイシー) is a bioscience and pharmaceutical specialized translation company offering a comprehensive suite of translation and language services. The core offering is pharmaceutical/medical translation across multiple language pairs (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Portuguese), covering regulatory documents (CTD, CIOMS, PSUR, FDA submissions), literature, and technical documentation. Supporting services include native speaker editing, audio transcription/voice-over, custom database construction, promotional material production, and regulatory information services. The company maintains rigorous quality control through SOPs, proprietary medical terminology dictionaries including MedDRA, PSUR, and drug name dictionaries, plus dedicated in-house and freelance checker teams.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Translation Services (翻訳サービス) Multilingual translation of pharmaceutical, bioscience, and medical documents including CTD applications, CIOMS and MHLW adverse event reports, JPR-format package inserts, PSUR, FDA and related regulatory submissions, research reports, validation documents, medical device manuals, SOPs, literature, summaries, internal documents, presentations, and websites across English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Korean, Russian, and Portuguese.
• Native Check (ネイティブチェック)

Quantifiable outcome

• Quality control by specialized checkers with pharmaceutical/biomedical backgrounds for all translations

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• 一般財団法人 日本医薬情報センター (Japan Pharmaceutical Information Center)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBusiness and technical partnership for pharmaceutical information exchange and collaboration in the pharmaceutical translation and regulatory science domain.
• 一般財団法人 医薬品医療機器レギュラトリーサイエンス財団 (Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Regulatory Science Foundation)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for regulatory science in pharmaceuticals and medical devices, supporting translation accuracy and regulatory compliance knowledge.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Honyaku Center: Japanese translation and interpretation company with a specialist life sciences/medical translation practice; highly comparable because it is a Japanese-headquartered direct competitor offering pharma and medical translation to Japanese and global clients.
• JTB Communication Design: Japanese-based language services provider offering translation and localization to enterprise clients including regulated industries; comparable because it is a domestic Japanese LSP competing for the same enterprise translation budgets as BIC.

Emerging players

• Translated.net: AI-augmented translation platform with significant professional translator network and growing pharma vertical; comparable because it represents the tech-enabled, scale-driven model that could pressure traditional specialists like BIC on price.

Broad incumbents

• Lionbridge: One of the world's largest LSPs with a strong Life Sciences vertical covering regulatory, clinical, and medical device translation; comparable because it serves the same pharma client base with similar CTD/PSUR/MDD translation offerings as BIC.
• TransPerfect: Global language services leader with dedicated life sciences practice offering pharma/regulatory translation, validation, and linguistic validation; comparable because it competes in BIC's pharmaceutical translation niche but at vastly larger scale and across geographies.
• LanguageLine Solutions: Large language access provider offering translation and interpretation across healthcare and life sciences; comparable because it touches the same pharma/medical ecosystem with multilingual services, though it leans more heavily on interpretation.
• Welocalize: Global LSP with dedicated life sciences translation services and Japanese language capability; comparable because it targets the same pharma/medical device translation workflows BIC does, particularly for Japan-related content.
• RWS Group: UK-listed language services and IP services group with regulated-industry translation capabilities including pharma and medical devices; comparable because it serves global pharma clients needing regulatory submission translation much like BIC.
• SDL (now part of RWS): Long-established language technology and services company with regulated-industry translation offerings including pharma; comparable because it competes in regulatory and medical translation and integrates CAT/Mt tooling that BIC lacks.
• Moravia (now RWS Moravia): Global localization provider with extensive life sciences and regulatory translation experience; comparable because it competes for the same pharma translation RFPs with similar quality assurance frameworks (SOPs, termbases) to BIC.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 BIC