Press ReleasesNippon Paper Crecia Establishes Health Care Research InstituteStrengthen Its Product Competitiveness through R&D Structure Development on April 1

Nippon Paper Crecia Co., Ltd.

Nippon Paper Crecia Co., Ltd. (President: Yasunori Nanri; hereinafter, "the Company"), a Nippon Paper Group company, has announced that it will establish a "health care research institute" on April 1 this year to strengthen its product competitiveness in the nursing care and sanitary products market, which is growing rapidly.

In recent years, population aging has been progressing not only in Japan, which is already a super aging society, but also in many other nations around the globe. For this reason, the nursing care and sanitary products market is expanding rapidly both in Japan and overseas.

The Company has developed products that meet the needs of the market, such as the "Poise" series for light incontinence, and the "Hada Care Acty" series that incorporates extremely powerful deodorant sheets containing functional CNF. However, the Company also felt that it was important to strengthen its basic technology development, which will lead to new product development in the future. It is also seeking to bolster its market analysis capacity in order to view and actively pursue its health care business from a long-term perspective in response to changes in the market.

As of April 1, the Company will establish a new "health care research institute" in the Oji area in Kita ward, Tokyo, and develop a structure that makes the most of the Group's research resources by collaborating with Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. (President: Fumio Manoshiro). The Company believes that the new R&D structure will allow it to accurately grasp the needs of society, increase the speed of product developments, and expand its health care business by strengthening its competitiveness.