In April 2021, Daiichi Sankyo announced its fifth Five-year Business Plan (FY2021–FY2025) and 2030 Vision to become an “Innovative Global Healthcare Company Contributing to the Sustainable Development of Society.” Below, Mr. Satoru Kimura, the Head of the Japan Business Unit (JBU), shares his enthusiasm to make significant contributions to the medical field in Japan, the market where the Daiichi Sankyo group of companies (Daiichi Sankyo Group) is headquartered.
Name of the Strategy “NIPPON” written in Japanese Caligraphy
Nippon Striving for medical contributions with the “NIPPON” Strategy
The JBU was established in 2021 to facilitate alliance between business units and regions and to further accelerate the globalization of Daiichi Sankyo.
Previously, the company had adopted a management system which was particularly unique to Japan. Now, it has consolidated the Japan sales, marketing, and medical affairs functions within the same management system as in other parts of the world.
We developed the “NIPPON” (which is also the Japanese word for “Japan”) Strategy, which uses a simple acronym to communicate the JBU’s unique identity and remain number one in Japan in terms of sales revenue.
New standard:
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Maximize product value by creating, establishing, and spreading a new standard
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Insight:
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Contribute to medical care through exploring and meeting true medical needs
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Productive:
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Promote business efficiently and effectively through DX
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Primary:
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Expand continuously through medical contribution through a broad product lineup
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Oncology:
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Establish presence by leveraging strength from primary care |
With our new “NIPPON” strategy, we will develop our innovative medicine, vaccine, and generics businesses to meet various customer needs, from treatment and prevention to healthcare cost reduction.
Daiichi Sankyo's domestic pharmaceutical business
comprehensively develops innovative drugs, over-the-
counter drugs, vaccines, and generic drugs.
Aiming to become the number one company in Japan in both primary care and oncology
For Daiichi Sankyo to contribute to medical care and stay number one in Japan, I believe the company needs to build out a strong reputation and earn trust from the entire oncology community while maintaining the strengths we have built in primary care.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the way we provide information to healthcare providers has been changing from day to day.
We have remained flexible and attuned to our customers’ needs and will continue to deliver proper and timely information so that we maintain the trust we have cultivated over the years.
Determined to make medical contribution with a patient-centric mindset
Our patient-centric mindset was an approach specifically emphasized in Daiichi Sankyo’s fifth Five-year Business Plan. Our medical representatives (MRs*1) in Japan have earned their high reputation with frontline healthcare providers because of their deep commitment to patient-centered activities.
Our MRs put the patient at the center of every engagement with healthcare providers, seeking to understand patients’ perspectives and provide information that fits individual patient profiles. In addition to the Medical Information Call Center in Japan compiling feedback from healthcare providers, the JBU has medical science liaisons (MSLs*1), product managers (PMs), and other staff members who are in close contact with medical institutions, enabling us to demonstrate synergy effects through information sharing with MRs.
Personally, I have been committed to comprehensively contribute to human health since my schooldays. I have been working for commercial departments since entering the company. Having been a MR myself, I feel strongly about putting patients over profit. We should first be considering the best course to improve a patient’s life, just as medical providers do.
The transformation of digital resources and artificial intelligence (AI) is now a must. However, I think “human power” will remain the key to making the final difference. It is highly challenging to deliver information that best suits individual patients through conversations with healthcare providers, which AI is unable to do. Daiichi Sankyo’s MRs work hard every day to equip themselves with new knowledge to reach a higher level and become true essential workers capable of responding to all kinds of medical needs.
Satoru Kimura
Representative Director
Head of Japan Business Unit at the time of the release
Engaged in sales and marketing since joining the company
*1: Staff in charge of providing medical information (product information) to healthcare professionals.
*2: Staff who exchange opinions with external medical and scientific experts, and who generate and disseminate information through clinical trials