Transformation Toward Enhancing Patient Contribution
Our industry has been required to change further so that we can contribute to our society efficiently and productively. Only a company that can change and adjust to such an environment can thrive in the future.
Eisai has initiated activities to transform itself so that it can be a sustainable contributor to patients. We call these activities the ‘Eisai Pharma Model.’ We pose one simple concept behind this which is focusing on the true reality facing patients. This exactly complements our corporate philosophy, hhc, which was approved at the General Shareholders’ Meeting in 2005 and codified into our Articles of Incorporation. It said that ‘The Company’s corporate concept is to give first thought to patients and their families, and to increase the benefits that health care provides. Under this concept, the Company endeavors to become a human health care (hhc) company.’
Demand Innovation by Knowing the Realities of Patients
All Eisai employees are asked to participate in various programs to socialize with patients and their communities all over the world, to understand the realities patients face. The first proposal with regard to the Eisai Pharma Model is ‘Demand Innovation.’ This is the idea advocated by Professor Toshiaki Izeki and defined as ‘Understanding the real priority for the customer from among the various urgent and latent issues, responding proactively, and providing a new and satisfactory experience.’ We are trying to integrate and reorganize current organizational units such as manufacturing, marketing and medical information to pursue Demand Innovation. The new experiences we provide through our products/services/information/networks give ‘Hope,’ ‘Relief,’ and ‘Joy’ to patients. All of Eisai’s 11,000 global employees are asked to fulfill this mission through their daily business activities.
New Structure Towards Product Creation
We recently reallocated 2,000 employees originally working in research and development into a new Product Creation System. This system is composed of 13 units, with seven units covering therapeutic areas such as oncology, neuroscience and six units based on innovative technologies. The purpose of this venture is very simple: ‘timely delivery of good medicine to the patients.’ The main driving factors that will make the system work well are talent and interaction. We are not trying to develop 13 independent silos. Instead, we are developing a single team with 13 units through sharing information and experiences, learning from each other, and working together to shorten the time for product development. Autonomy and accountability are both key in the operation of each unit. We recommend a strong sense of ownership of the project by all members. Each unit covers a wide swath ranging from discovery to approval in their respective areas.
We would really like each unit to emphasize these four points:
- Efforts to comprehend the reality patients face, understand unmet patient needs and identify new patient values
- Superior innovation levels which assist in shortening project development time
- Talent identification and efforts to retain capable individuals
- Achievements judged upon milestone objectives in the portfolio
Growth Strategy by Region
I like to emphasize the perspective regarding our growth strategy. A single good global strategy that shapes a company‘s growth is now an anachronism in today‘s world. Since regional differences in terms of disease incidence, income level, health systems, etc., are exceedingly complex in modern societies, inevitably, we need to have an appropriate regional strategy which conforms to a specific region. In our case, each region, i.e., Japan, the U.S., Europe, China and AOME (Asia, Oceania and the Middle East) has its own regional headquarters and implements its own respective growth strategies. Regional growth strategies include key elements such as a business model, product assortment and value chain.
Continuous and Stable Dividends
With respect to shareholders’ returns, we have a clear policy of using approximately one third of the annual cash generated in the form of dividends for shareholders. Another one third is utilized for investing in growth areas and the remainder is retained. The major component of shareholders’ returns is the cash dividend. We believe a sustainable good dividend will be the best way to benefit our shareholders which is less affected by market conditions that fluctuate from time to time. Also, since we expect long-term holding of our stocks by our shareholders, a sustainable good cash dividend will further encourage such holding. In the year ended March 2009, our dividend was 140 yen per share, and in the year ending March 2010, we forecast an increase to 150 yen per share which will reach dividends on equity of 9.1%.
Finally, I sincerely request your understanding and continuous support for our activities and plans to achieve future growth.
July 2009
President (Representative Executive Officer) and CEO
|
