Teamwork is the nucleus of transforming Daiichi Sankyo R&D into a global powerhouse
Akihiro Inoguchi (Hiro), MBS, MBA didn’t always envision himself leading a major global R&D transformation of a top pharmaceutical company. What started as an early fascination with the human body, has turned into a career in drug development where Hiro is honored to help patients through his work.
“I was fascinated by the sophistication of the immune system and wanted to learn more about how it works and interacts with other parts of the body,” said Hiro. This curiosity led Hiro to pursue both a bachelor and master’s degree in Bioscience at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, which following graduation led to a position in clinical development at predecessor company Sankyo.
At the time, Hiro believed drug development would be a rewarding field to specialize in because of how it converts the “promising seeds” of science—those invented by scientists in the research labs—into innovative medicines for patients. This unwavering belief remains in him today.
More can be accomplished together...
Throughout his tenure at Daiichi Sankyo, Hiro has held roles of increasing responsibility within drug development in specialized areas such as clinical development and global project management and learned from his various team members around the world. He also honed his business acumen by earning a second master’s degree in business after working in R&D Planning.
Now, a Corporate Officer and Vice President of Japan Development Function/R&D Globalization Lead, Hiro is leveraging his 30 plus years of experience to lead the transformation of Daiichi Sankyo’s R&D organization from that of a regionally focused team into a global scientific powerhouse.
It is the people at Daiichi Sankyo that serve as the nucleus of Daiichi Sankyo’s transformation into a global R&D leader in oncology, according to Hiro. By taking an open and active listening approach to leadership, Hiro works to identify the strengths of each person on the team to bring out their best. This way more can be accomplished together as a team than any individual could do on their own.
“I like to drive strengths from people—each person has their strengths. Strengths should be leveraged to get the job done. Teamwork also is extremely important. For example, I could complete certain tasks by myself, but the end result would be limited. If we work as a team, bringing in various perspectives, ideas, and experiences, we can do more.”
- Akihiro Inoguchi, MBS, MBA, Corporate Officer, Vice President of Japan Development Function and R&D Globalization Lead
Hiro invests a great deal of time coaching and mentoring team members and overseeing resources involving the portfolio, including working with leadership across the company. He pulls many of his leadership strengths from his time in project management in his early days at Daiichi Sankyo, as well as from leaders across functions within the company.
Hiking is one of Hiro's passions outside of helping transform
Daiichi Sankyo into a global oncology leader.
...to deliver innovative medicines to patients
In addition to the ADCs currently in clinical development, the other development area Hiro is passionate about is the immune checkpoint inhibitor class of medicines. “We have great science and a very promising and dynamic portfolio right now, especially in oncology,” continues Hiro. “We are working to leverage our own technology platform to potentially create a different mechanism of action for immune checkpoint inhibitors, targeting a different area of the cancer cell. This is a fascinating area of research where we hope to make a meaningful contribution.”
In the future, Hiro believes that the company’s focus on developing and growing the next generation of leaders is the cornerstone of how Daiichi Sankyo R&D will ultimately transform itself into a global powerhouse and take on the challenges that lay ahead.