Afternoon. I will talk about our disease-oriented approach to this new era in healthcare, including some things we are trying from a mid- to long-term perspective. This is a slide we shared on November 9th, 2017. It outlined our mid- to long-term strategy, focusing on three main points toward achieving growth. I have previously talked here about strengthening global operations. What I will share today is one way we are carrying out the third point, leveraging our Group's comprehensive strengths by implementing a disease-oriented approach. Next slide, please. First, regarding the changes we see coming in healthcare. Aging, lifestyle diseases, and complex illnesses are increasing drastically, causing problems for both society at large and individuals. One such problem is a quality-of-life crisis. The last 10 or 20 years of the human lifespan are seeing a sharp decline in quality of life.
This also carries great social costs. Societies are unable to bear the enormous burdens of resulting healthcare expenditures. To solve these problems, healthcare systems are being forced to change enormously. The revolution of digital technology is enabling that change to occur and accelerate. As is written at the bottom of this slide, a healthcare paradigm shift is upon us. We expect these great shifts that have been taught in textbooks to become reality over the next 10 or so years. Terumo plans to undertake an important change by implementing a disease-oriented approach. There are three points. The first business-based approach that we have taken has focused on specific diagnoses, treatments, or procedures, or on certain functions.
We see the need to walk alongside the patient's journey through the long time span covering prevention through prognosis, with a focus on how we can bring total value and solutions rather than the above pinpoint approach. The second point, the approach we have taken has been the product approach on which the Terumo organizational structure has been based. Now it is a customer-centered approach. Going forward, we need to provide the best value through broad solutions without being restricted by a product-oriented approach or structure. The purpose of this is to simultaneously address the two major issues of improving patient QOL and medical cost efficiency. This means providing solutions that benefit and bring value to both society and individuals. The third point is that we target specific diseases, especially those caused by aging and which have an increasingly serious impact on society.
Our work has had a strong focus in the past on stroke and ischemic heart disease. We will now add to those the fields of oncology, diabetes, chronic heart failure, and foot diseases and care as we strengthen our disease-oriented approach. First, our approach to oncology. As a matter of fact, Terumo has been providing a number of products which contribute to fighting cancer, including in cancer treatment aid, and care. The products you see here are just some examples, and there are many more. When we look at cancer as a disease segment, we find that Terumo actually covers a broad field. In addition, we can utilize our sales channels and diverse technologies toward improving patient QOL overall. The oncology field has traditionally been focused on raising the effectiveness of chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Our approach is different. Cancer no longer leads to inevitable death.
It is becoming more of a chronic illness. Because it is a chronic illness, it is increasingly important to manage post-treatment side effects and nutrition. That is why Terumo is working in the field of supportive care with the perspective of raising patient QOL. Another approach includes multiplying the treatment effect while reducing patient burden. Our goal here is to maximize the total outcome of the oncology therapy. Now I will explain about the supportive care environment. In Japan alone, supportive care is a JPY 160 billion market. As awareness of maximizing the treatment outcome spreads, we expect the scale to grow even more. Specifically, terminal supportive care has been proven to extend the average length of survival. Our variety of pain management and drug products focus on providing this care. We also provide products that address the safety of medical professionals in preventing their exposure to anticancer drugs.
Terumo is already a main player in this market with JPY 10 billion in sales. The Japanese Association of Supportive Care in Cancer was founded a few years ago. We have closely collaborated with the JASCC, raising our presence in the oncology field. Now, regarding our approach to improving the effectiveness of cancer treatment. First is the interventional approach. Terumo has a wealth of advanced delivery technology for intravascular therapy. In the oncology field as well, we use this strength in ways like delivery of anticancer drug beads to pinpoint locations, maximizing effect, and reducing patient burden. In delivery technology in particular, we have a large market share in liver cancer embolization therapy using microcatheter. Going forward, we will add value with our existing TRI technology to reduce patient burden. Now I will talk about the approach to diabetes.
The revenue of our existing diabetes management business, which is centered on SMBG and Nanopass, is about JPY 20 billion. Recently, we have added G4 Continuous Glucose Monitor from Dexcom and our internally developed patch pump to the lineup. The entrance to the therapeutic device field helped us to be recognized as a real diabetes management device player in the industry. Going forward, we will pursue solution development, including data linkage systems through internal and external R&D. Now I will explain about the approach to chronic heart disease. The increase in heart failure patients due to aging has become a social problem characterized as a heart failure pandemic. Heart failure is the terminal state of a diverse number of heart diseases, which lead to repeated cycles of worsening and hospitalization. Patient QOL drops drastically, and it leads to enormous healthcare cost increases.
Terumo is widely involved in the heart failure patient journey. For preliminary organic failure, such as myocardial infarction, we have a broad range of intervention products as an interventional approach. As a surgical approach, we do have an oxygenator PCPS, cellular-based products, and so on. We also know that large unmet needs exist in the heart failure exacerbation stage. We hope to provide an effective solution in this area, such as monitoring devices and a network connecting devices and medical providers to catch signals of exacerbation early. The last area is foot care. Terumo has a broad product portfolio for lower limb illnesses. The biggest part is peripheral intervention devices for complication treatment. We also have compression therapy technologies and peritoneal dialysis equipment as well. We have been contributing to the treatment of lower limb illnesses across a broad scope.
One hurdle in this area is that healthcare resources for lower limb illnesses are widely dispersed. Terumo envisions a wide scope in foot care. This is because healthy lifespan will be increasingly important going forward. To achieve this healthy lifespan, it will be vital to extend the period of life in which people can walk on their own healthy feet. Terumo Foot Care solutions are for exactly that. We look to provide a gateway system to connect dispersed medical networks in addition to diagnostic technologies, to realize early detection of signs of ischemia. Next slide, please. In this disease-oriented approach, Terumo has a combination that no other company can match. A wide range of products, technologies, access to a diversity of customers, and interaction with doctors in various departments. We also enjoy a broad training base and the empathy expressed in our core values, care.
Taking all these advantages into account, we plan to build on that base and pioneer a disease-oriented approach, continuing from there by accumulating further knowledge, awareness of issues, and insight regarding each disease. Looking ahead, we see all this contributing to the future of individualized personal healthcare that will be required. To pioneer in these areas, we will add to our product lines and device solutions data analytics, software, and network infrastructure, in addition to building our capability as Terumo Group, so that we can make a meaningful contribution to the advancement of healthcare. In conclusion, we are looking ahead to changes ushering in a new era of healthcare. Through strengthening our focus on a disease basis, we want to get away from the restrictions of product groupings and instead shift toward disease-oriented and patient-based strategies.
This will give patients better QOL and improve medical cost efficiency in a uniquely Terumo way, while allowing us to provide solutions in a way no IT company could achieve, all toward contributing to an aging society. In the near future, we will enhance our digital capability through internal development and external collaboration to give healthy individuals and patients alike customized solutions. By doing so, we want to bring healthcare one more step forward. Thank you. We ask for your continued support. I am the CFO, Muto. I will now explain the first half results for the fiscal year ending March 2020. First, the overall results. Sales revenue grew positively in all three companies. Among these, the TIS business of the Cardiac and Vascular Company achieved double-digit growth in all regions, driving the Terumo Group as a whole to 8% growth. Adjusted operating profit grew a large 21%.
This was due to strong growth in high-margin products across the group. In addition to Cardiac and Vascular Company expenses, especially sales promotions occurring later than planned. Profit before taxes grew 30% year-on-year due to far less FX loss than in the same period of the previous year. The first half results in sales revenue and all profit categories were their highest ever. This is the variance analysis of adjusted operating profit compared to the previous year. Profit increase through sales increment is JPY 18.5 billion, which is ahead of progress toward our JPY 33 billion annual guidance. This is a comparison with the previous fiscal year when we experienced a shipping delay. This heavily influenced our second quarter this fiscal year, it represents an increase according to plan. The JPY 6 billion of gross profitability on sales came in above our annual guidance of JPY 4.8 billion.
In addition to improvement in business mix driven by good Cardiac and Vascular Company sales performance, we saw more positive effects from cost reductions in production than expected. These contributed greatly to us exceeding our first half guidance. There was no price erosion impact from the reimbursement price revision, and progress of JPY 5 billion was according to plan. European MDR expenses occurred behind schedule. Preparations for the new regulations are progressing on schedule, and expenses are expected to catch up in the second half. At JPY 4.1 billion, SG&A increase progressed slower than the annual guidance of JPY 12.5 billion, which also contributed to our exceeding first half guidance. Some of this unused amount may possibly remain unused in the second half as well due to the good sales performance. We anticipate that most of the amount will be used in the second half.
R&D expense was JPY 2.8 billion, progressing according to plan against the annual guidance of JPY 5.7 billion. FX impact was approximately according to guidance. Next is revenue by region. In Japan, General Hospital Company maintained good performance, while Cardiac and Vascular Company grew in double digits for an overall result of 5% growth. Outside Japan, all regions grew in double digits when excluding FX impact. Next slide, please. Next is revenue by company. Cardiac and Vascular Company was driven by double-digit growth in all regions of the TIS business, as well as the entire neurovascular business. The General Hospital Company saw double-digit growth in its alliance business and did well overall. Blood Management Company overcame heavily negative FX impact to return to positive growth on the strength of good performance by blood center products in developed markets, in addition to contributions from tenders won in emerging markets.
I will give more detail by company in the next slides. Here is Cardiac and Vascular Company. Revenue was affected negatively by FX but still grew 12%. The TIS business drove the entire company with double-digit growth in all regions. The neurovascular business maintained good performance, especially in the U.S., where the new WEB product has been introduced. All businesses saw positive growth, including CV and vascular graft. In profit, the increase in sales of high profitability TIS and neurovascular products and improved product mix across the whole company both contributed to a strong result. Some anticipated expenses not occurring during the first half against a background of the good sales performance of TIS and neurovascular businesses led to 37% year-on-year growth.
In addition to the reimbursement price revision impact, expenses that were delayed from the first half will have impact in the second half, bringing results back toward annual guidance. Next slide, please. The General Hospital Company saw progress according to plan in both sales and profit. Sales revenue progress was according to plan overall with General Hospital Products, Pharmaceutical, and DM Healthcare businesses maintaining good performance despite impact from timing gap of some expected pharmaceutical company orders in the alliance business making it a slower second quarter. Profit came back to planned levels for the first half overall after some expenses occurred ahead of schedule in the first quarter. In addition, profitability improved to the 15% of annual guidance. Next slide, please. Next is Blood Management Company.
Sales revenue returned to growth across the company with blood center products recovering in the second quarter after a slow first quarter start due to sales happening in the previous fiscal year and with contributions from tenders won in emerging markets. Profit growth was negative due to heavy FX impacts, but profitability was restored according to plan. Next slide, please. I will now summarize the causes for exceeding our first half guidance and the risks for the second half. The causes for exceeding our first half guidance are the ones I outlined earlier. I will explain the risks for the second half. In sales, there could be negative FX impact, and there is some lack of clarity regarding to what degree demand was front-loaded to avoid the consumption tax hike that occurred in Japan.
There is also a risk in profit if the expenses occur as I outlined earlier. We will not revise our annual guidance at this time while still striving to exceed that guidance by maintaining the momentum of the first half. The major topics from the quarter. The main topics for the Terumo Group included our decision to participate in two U.S. venture funds. Through investment in funds and functional support for startup companies, we will encourage new product development and commercialization. Regarding topics specific to companies, in the alliance business, the product and contract manufacturing for a pharmaceutical company received regulatory approval in Japan and production capacity will be increased, indicating acceleration of business growth. Next slide, please. This slide shows our new product pipeline for this fiscal year. Currently, product launches are all on schedule. This concludes my explanation. Thank you.