Chugai Marks 100th Anniversary of Its Founding

TOKYO, March 10, 2025 -- Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (TOKYO: 4519) announced that Chugai marked its 100th anniversary on March 10, 2025. We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all our stakeholders who have supported and encouraged us thus far. For our company, the past 100 years have been a continuous series of challenges, and we have continued to evolve alongside the innovations born from these challenges. Moving forward, we will continue to boldly and sincerely take on challenges with our unique strength in science and technology, contributing to the medical community and human health around the world.

In 1925, Juzo Ueno founded our company, driven by a sense of mission to “creating drugs that benefit the world” after witnessing the devastation caused by the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. His vision was to spread high-quality foreign pharmaceuticals throughout Japan and eventually deliver Japanese-developed medicines to the world. This aspiration is reflected in the company name “Chugai,” which means “inside” and “outside.” At the time of the company's founding, 32-year-old Juzo Ueno embarked on this challenge with seven like-minded employees. The founding spirit has been passed down through generations, and 100 years later, the Chugai Group has grown to 7,778 employees (as of the end of 2024).

In 2002, to accelerate our focus on innovation, we initiated a strategic alliance with Roche, a global healthcare company based in Switzerland. Through collaboration with Roche, we have been delivering innovative medicines developed by Chugai to patients worldwide. Over the past 20 years, we have created six innovative drugs in-house, including Actemra® *¹, the first antibody drug created by a Japanese pharmaceutical company for treating rheumatoid arthritis and severe COVID-19 pneumonia; Alecensa® *², a treatment for ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer; and Hemlibra® *³, which has become a new treatment option for hemophilia A. These medicines have been delivered to over 4.4 million patients in more than 110 countries. With cooperation from partners around the world in research and development, manufacturing, and sales, we continue to deliver our new drugs both domestically and internationally.

Moving forward, we will continue to refine our unique technologies and scientific capabilities, and pursue innovation to fulfill our mission: "Dedicate ourselves to adding value by creating and delivering innovative products and services for the medical community and human health around the world."

Dr. Osamu Okuda, Chugai’s President and CEO said the following:
"Inheriting the founding spirit of creating drugs that benefit the world, we have delivered innovative medicines and solutions to patients for 100 years. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all stakeholders who have supported and encouraged our company thus far.

Our 100-year history has been a series of challenges. Starting with the challenge of developing our own new drugs in the 1970s, we continued to take on challenges in small molecule, biopharmaceutical, and antibody drug discovery. Our strategic alliance with Roche further accelerated our drug discovery technology development. And now, we are embarking on the challenge of mid-size molecule drug discovery, targeting disease-related molecules that were previously unreachable with existing drugs. This is a venture into uncharted territory.
To continue contributing to the medical community and human health around the world, it is crucial to create new value through co-creation with stakeholders worldwide who share the same vision. The source of innovation is “people.” We will provide unwavering and comprehensive support to employees who proactively consider what they should do for patients and to solve social issues, and who work diligently towards these goals. As a symbolic initiative for our 100th anniversary, we create 'My Action Declaration,' where each employee articulates their aspirations, and we will share this across the entire company. The company will support the implementation of initiatives where employees' aspirations align.
Brighter life forward - we will proceed in our own way, straightforwardly and boldly. Under the slogan ‘INNOVATION BEYOND IMAGINATION,’ the entire Chugai Group will continue to forge ahead. Please look forward to our future endeavors."

Our initiatives related to the 100th anniversary of our founding:
As we approach our 100th anniversary, Chugai launched a commemorative project. Through this project, we aim to express our gratitude to all stakeholders for their tremendous support of our activities over the years. Additionally, we will reflect on our history of inheriting the founding spirit and taking on challenges. Each employee will shape and share their aspirations for the next 100 years, putting them into action to connect our past to the future.

Gratitude:
[For employees and their families]

• "CHUGAI DAY" event to express gratitude by inviting employees' families and partners to the company
  To be held at major domestic and international business locations for all employees and their families/partners

[For society]

• Holding of 100th anniversary commemorative ceremony
• Implementation of collaborative projects with partner organizations for social contribution activities

Understanding:
[For employees] Learning and inheriting the founding spirit

• Publication of company history book
  Sharing the company's history with employees and passing on the cherished values and DNA
• Panel discussion with stakeholders and the company president
  Sharing the "thoughts and passion for patients" of pioneers active on the frontlines of healthcare, and considering the future of patient-centered medicine

[For society] Enhancing Understanding of Chugai

• Renewal of the corporate website
  Revamping to highlight the company's strengths and characteristics, with visual design embodying innovation
  - Addition of new content "Stories" and "Innovation" to help understand employees and initiatives that are challenging innovation
  - Launch of "Chugai 100th anniversary special webpage" to reflect on history and communicate future prospects
• Further evolution of the Chugai brand
  Establishing a new Visual Identity and adjusting the corporate logo to improve visibility

Future:
[For employees] Envisioning a future of shared value creation with society

• "My Action Declaration" where employees shape their aspirations
  Employees will create individual original movies that overlay Chugai's history with their personal history, expressing their aspirations for the future they wish to achieve. These future aspirations will be shared as "My Action Declaration" among all employees. The company will support employees in realizing each other's aspirations.

[For society]

• Proposal and implementation of new social contribution activities by employees

For detailed information, please refer to our corporate website.

Chugai 100th anniversary special webpage
https://www.chugai-pharm.co.jp/english/

New content to help understand our employees and initiatives
Innovation: https://www.chugai-pharm.co.jp/english/innovation/
Stories: https://www.chugai-pharm.co.jp/english/story/

Trademarks used or mentioned in this release are protected by law.

*1 Indications for Actemra: "Rheumatoid arthritis that has not responded sufficiently to existing therapies" "SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia (limited to patients requiring oxygen intervention)" (partial excerpt)
*2 Indications for Alecensa: "ALK fusion gene positive unresectable, recurrent / advanced non-small cell lung cancer" "Adjuvant therapy for ALK fusion gene-positive non-small cell lung cancer" (partial excerpt)
*3 Indications for Hemlibra: "Suppression a bleeding tendency in patients with congenital hemophilia A (congenital blood coagulation factor VIII deficiency)" "Routine prophylaxis to prevent or reduce the frequency of bleeding episodes in patients with acquired hemophilia A"

Left     : Juzo Ueno, founder of Chugai
Center : Ikebukuro Head Office of Chugai Shinyaku Shokai (the company's original name at its founding) in 1935
Right   : Promotional car for "Guronsan," which supported the company's growth in the 1950s