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What motivated your company to join GHIT?

As a pharmaceutical company, we have sought out means of contributing to global health through our corporate social responsibility (CSR) and social contribution activities. As part of these efforts, we have engaged in numerous projects that contribute to improving access to medicine and healthcare in developing countries. However, we have been faced with a limited range of opportunities to contribute to global health by utilizing our drug discovery technologies, which are core to our research and development (R&D) activities and form the foundation of our business platform.

GHIT was established to raise funds from various sectors and also to leverage the scientific and technological capabilities of Japanese companies to contribute to global health. We saw the opportunity presented by GHIT to utilize the drug discovery technologies that are core to our R&D activities. As a private-sector company, we must dedicate ourselves to the pursuit of profit. For this reason, it is difficult to put aside considerations of profitability and devote significant amounts of time and money to R&D projects purely for the purpose of social contribution, especially if the success of these projects is not guaranteed. Partnering with GHIT enables us to effectively incorporate our chemical compounds into the R&D process. Accordingly, our partnership with GHIT allows us to utilize Daiichi Sankyo’s various resources to make wider-reaching contributions to society. This is the fundamental reason we decided to become a founding partner. As a result of our partnership, we have identified promising compounds from among Daiichi Sankyo’s compound library to be used in developing anti-malarial agents. These compounds have advanced to the next preclinical stage.
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Has your company’s engagement in global health R&D delivered any new insights or lessons learned to your company?

Our compound library is unique in that we synthesize almost all compounds in-house and stock the raw materials we use in this process. We hope that GHIT’s R&D activities will be aided by our compound library. In fact, we have already produced numerous successes through our various efforts.

Although our global health initiatives are not directly linked to our business, I believe that it contributes to higher motivation for our researchers when GHIT effectively uses Daiichi Sankyo’s drug discovery technologies and R&D capabilities to move forward with the development of pharmaceuticals. It is important for our researchers to experience many such successes and to foster their ability to envision the path toward future successes and toward the creation of new drugs through these experiences. This process will no doubt help further the development of our employees, which will a positive impact on our drug discovery activities in the oncology field and in new horizon areas.

I am always trying to pinpoint exactly what motivates our employees. Thank you letters from patients are one of the clearest contributors to employee motivation. As we provide pharmaceuticals, letters received from patients include those talking about how, for example, family members were saved from Alzheimer’s disease or how a patient’s quality of life was improved, despite the fact that they did not recover completely. One specific letter described how a student was able to sufficiently prepare for their entrance examinations because our products helped them quickly recover from a five-day fever stemming from influenza.

I share such letters with our employees whenever possible. Although there are other ways of instilling motivation, such as increasing bonuses for success at work, I think that expressions of gratitude from patients and stories of the patients that have been saved are the greatest motivators for employees. These expressions and stories are major sources of pride, and the majority of the people that work in the pharmaceutical industry gain inspiration from these sources.

Successfully contributing to global health is a joyous experience. We are proud to go beyond simply helping fund GHIT to actually contribute to global health through our drug discovery technologies and R&D activities. The inspiration and motivation we receive in return is invaluable.

How can GHIT accelerate global health R&D?

Developing new drugs requires tremendous investments of time and money. The Japanese government has expressed its commitment to conducting ongoing investment in GHIT from a long-term perspective. Once commenced, it is important to continue such support. We, as a private-sector company, will also provide consistent support to GHIT.

Moreover, as GHIT’s name suggests, it is important to advance the development of truly innovative technology. If Japanese pharmaceutical companies and research institutions can contribute to global health by utilizing their innovative technology, I think GHIT can become even more capable and grow further.

Looking ahead, what are the next challenges for Japanese pharma and GHIT?

It is important for GHIT to continue contributing to the world by developing new drugs, as it has done to date. I think it is also important to raise awareness among the global community with regard to the extent to which Japanese pharmaceutical technologies and R&D capabilities are aiding society and saving lives.

Lack of public awareness or understanding regarding the best forms of healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry is something I think about every day. People are no doubt aware of how insurance fees and drug prices rise and fall. However, I do not think that the average person is very aware of how extensively the pharmaceutical industry contributes to society through medical services and drug discovery, or of the potential for the industry itself.

For example, many had not understood that millions of people in Africa were saved by the research that earned Professor Satoshi Omura, Professor Emeritus at Kitasato University, until he was awarded the Nobel Prize. I think that it is very important to raise awareness of the potential for the drug discovery technologies and R&D capabilities of companies like Daiichi Sankyo to be utilized in the field of global health and for Japan to save lives around the world in this manner.

There are still many patients suffering from severe diseases around the world, and saving them and reducing their suffering will ultimately require new drugs. It is therefore important for society as a whole to think about how to create and deliver such new drugs.

The affiliations and positions listed in this interview are at the time of publication of the interview in 2017.