M3 Healthcare Research
M3 is a healthcare market research company, headquartered in Tokyo and publicly traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The firm has offices in several countries, including the US, UK, France, Germany, China, India and Korea.
About M3 Healthcare Research
M3 is a healthcare market research company, headquartered in Tokyo and publicly traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The firm has offices in several countries, including the US, UK, France, Germany, China, India, and Korea.
M3 says it has the world’s largest proprietary panel of verified healthcare professionals: over 350,000 Japanese physicians and over 6.5 million global physician panel members, with members verified using photo ID. In 2021, M3 delivered more than 651,000 completed surveys across this panel, meaning ~10% of the members took a survey. The company has continued to grow strongly in recent years - for the nine months ended December 31, 2025, M3 Group revenue rose 28.6% year-over-year.
M3 was founded in 2000 by Itaru Tanimura, a McKinsey consultant. Initially, M3 was an online medical community for Japanese physicians, with an early investment from Sony Corporation. The company has spent more than two decades growing and acquiring healthcare panels and communities worldwide.
M3 timeline and notable events
2000 - Founded as an online medical community for Japanese physicians, with an early investment from Sony Corporation.
2002 - Acquired WebMD in Japan.
2003 - Acquired MediPro from Sony.
2004 - Listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
2006 - Acquired MDLinx.com (USA) and Medigate.net (Korea).
2008 - Acquired iTicket Corporation (Japan).
2009 - Acquired Mebix (Japan), a clinical research firm.
2010 - Acquired EMS Research (UK), and renamed the entire business M3 Inc. and international operations M3 Global Research.
2011 - Acquired Doctors.net.uk (UK).
2012 - Acquired MIC Medical and CMS (both in Japan).
2013 - Acquired MedLive (China).
2014 - Acquired Mediscience Planning (Japan).
2017 - Acquired QQFS (Sweden) and Vidal Group (France).
2018 - Acquired Wake Research (US).
2020 - Acquired NAS Recruitment (US) and Manthan's healthcare MR division (India), later renamed to m360 Research.
2021 - Acquired Ekas (Australia) and One Health Communications (UK),
2022 - Acquired Pharma-insight (Germany) and 3H Holdings (Japan).
2023 - Acquired two healthcare research businesses from Kantar Group: Kantar Profiles-Health and Kantar Media Healthcare Research, mainly serving Europe and the US.
April 2023 - Acquired Med Planet (France)
2024 - Acquired Scribendi Inc. (Canada), strengthening a research paper editing platform; consolidated ELAN Corporation via a tender offer, offering patient support services.
April 2025 – Acquired EWEL, Inc., part of the "White Jack Project" aimed at pre-onset health maintenance.
2025 – Consolidated DailyRounds, Inc., an Indian community platform for doctors and med students with 450,000+ members; listed subsidiary CUC, Inc. on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Growth Market.
M3's services
M3 offers a range of market research services:
Full-service quantitative research: from programming to fielding to data processing. See our explainer on how the survey industry works here.
Qualitative research (including 1-on-1 interviews, focus groups, and online communities). See our explainer on how expert networks work here.
FAQ
How large is M3's healthcare panel? M3 says it maintains the world's largest proprietary panel of verified healthcare professionals - over 350,000 Japanese physicians and over 6.5 million global panel members, verified using photo ID.
What does M3 specialize in? M3 specializes in full-service quantitative and qualitative healthcare market research, drawing on the world's largest verified physician panel, alongside related businesses in healthcare IT, clinical research support, and physician recruitment.
Is M3 available on Inex One? No - M3 is not part of the Inex One marketplace.
