"Creating Drugs That Benefit the World": A Century of Purpose and the Future Chugai Is Building

  • Innovation
  • Sustainable Healthcare
  • 100th Anniversary

On March 10, 2025, Chugai Pharmaceutical celebrated its 100th anniversary. To commemorate this milestone, we held a Commemorative Ceremony in May 2025, welcoming 252 distinguished guests from Japan and around the world who have supported our journey. This event offered a meaningful opportunity to reflect on a century of progress and to solidify our resolve for the next hundred years. In this article, we look back on the milestones shared at the ceremony—including a panel discussion with prominent experts—and explore the future of drug discovery that Chugai is working to shape.

One Hundred Years in the Making: How a Founding Vision Became a Legacy

At the ceremony, Chugai's President and CEO, Dr. Osamu Okuda, and Honorary Chairman, Osamu Nagayama, reflected on the company's century-long journey, from its earliest days to the present.

Chugai was founded in 1925, born from the deep sense of mission felt by its founder, Juzo Ueno, in the wake of the Great Kanto Earthquake and the severe shortage of medicines that followed. With the conviction that he would "create drugs that benefit the world," Ueno set out with just seven employees—a first step that remains the cornerstone of who we are today. A man of international perspective, Ueno had lived in New York in the 1920s; when he visited Roche in Switzerland in 1950, he was moved to say, "This is truly remarkable. When I return to Japan, I want to build Chugai into a company just like this." That encounter and the admiration it sparked would prove to be the seeds of the strategic alliance between Chugai and Roche established decades later.

From industrializing nutritional supplements during postwar recovery to strengthening our prescription drug business and pioneering biotechnology in the 1980s, Chugai has consistently embraced new challenges.

The strategic alliance with Roche began in 2002. Facing an urgent need to secure R&D funding as a biopharmaceutical-focused company, Chugai engaged in extensive dialogue with former Roche CEO Dr. Franz B. Humer on the industry's future—conversations that ultimately led to the alliance. Honorary Chairman Nagayama reflected: "What matters is understanding what your business will need thirty years from now. We have always tried to envision the future and ask what we must do to continue delivering value to society".

CEO Okuda described the past century as "a journey of continuously taking on new challenges and driving innovation," and spoke about the consistent dedication to patients that has motivated Chugai's pursuit of innovation throughout its history — including through periods of difficulty.

A Panel Discussion on Unmet Social Needs

The second half of the ceremony featured a panel discussion titled "Pursuing Innovation to Address Unmet Social Needs." Panelists included Dr. Tsutomu Takeuchi, President of Saitama Medical University; Dr. Mariko Momoi, Professor Emeritus at Jichi Medical University, Invited Professor at Shinshu University School of Medicine, and Board Member of Tokyo Medical University (and an Outside Director of Chugai); Tomoyuki Igawa, Head of Chugai's Research Division; and Kazuhiko Nishi, Head of Medical Affairs. The session was moderated by Yuka Tanimoto, Editor-in-Chief of Forbes JAPAN Web.
Dr. Mariko Momoi
Dr. Mariko Momoi

The discussion explored how drug discovery, development, and clinical practice can work together to address the needs of society.

Dr. Momoi defined the core purpose of medicine as "minimizing the harm caused by disease," and explained that delivering care to those who currently lack access is the essence of addressing "unmet medical needs." She noted that drug discovery has played a significant role in this effort and will continue to do so. She also pointed out that medicine must now look beyond treating disease alone. A wider perspective is needed — one that takes into account the range of challenges patients face: the pain and side effects of treatment, uncertainty about whether a therapy is working, the time required to seek care, and the financial burden on individuals and society. Dr. Momoi introduced the concept of "Unmet Social Needs" as a framework for addressing the harms of both disease and medical treatment in a more comprehensive way, and emphasized the role that drug discovery and development can play in meeting this broader challenge.

Dr. Takeuchi noted that connecting medical needs with social needs is a natural conclusion, and stressed that as medicine continues to advance, pharmaceutical development must take a longer view. "Drug approval and market launch are not the finish line—they are the starting point," he said. "We need to keep our eyes on patients' lives, their families, and the broader society." He emphasized that drug development should be seen not only as a way to address medical needs, but as an opportunity to address the social needs that accompany them.
Dr. Tsutomu Takeuchi
Dr. Tsutomu Takeuchi

Igawa outlined Chugai's approach to drug discovery, explaining that under the company’s R&D Principles - which set out our research and development philosophy and guiding behaviors - Chugai pursues a Technology-Driven, Quality-Centric model of innovation. "Our goal is not simply to address unmet medical needs," he said. "We want to drive a paradigm shift that fundamentally transforms healthcare and develops therapies that resolve unmet social needs." He introduced three directions guiding Chugai's drug discovery going forward, expressed through the phrase: "Changing treatment through drug discovery."

Dr. Tomoyuki Igawa
Dr. Tomoyuki Igawa
Nishi noted that "the value of a medicine lies in both the product and the information that surrounds it." He argued that the field must move beyond evidence focused solely on traditional medical needs, and invest more in understanding the specific needs of patients -both those related to their condition and those shaped by their individual circumstances. "What matters most in treatment varies from patient to patient," he said. "Our mission is to develop and provide the options that are most appropriate for each individual." He described a range of initiatives, including the use of real-world data, the development of treatments that support patients' quality of life (QOL), and improved education and information-sharing for healthcare professionals. He also mentioned the development of digital health tools for patient monitoring and the expansion of Patient Engagement activities that bring patients' perspectives into the development process -reflecting Chugai's aim to provide value that goes beyond the conventional role of a pharmaceutical company.
Kazuhiko Nishi
Kazuhiko Nishi

The session concluded by reaffirming the potential of drug discovery and Chugai's commitment to innovation grounded in our proprietary technologies and scientific expertise. Panelists noted that by working with a broad range of stakeholders — sharing challenges and building mutual understanding — we can move more efficiently through the cycle of creating new treatments and delivering value to patients and society.

Chugai reaffirmed its founding commitment -"creating drugs that benefit the world" -and its intention to contribute to addressing social challenges over the next hundred years.

The Next 100 Years — Our Commitment Going Forward

Throughout the ceremony, CEO Okuda shared the following vision: "We aim to become a Top Innovator that patients around the world can rely on and look to. By changing treatment through drug discovery and delivering the most appropriate care to each individual patient, we will work to address the challenges facing society and contribute to the progress of people's lives and health worldwide."

Building on the spirit of challenge cultivated over the past hundred years, Chugai will continue to contribute to society through the development of innovative medicines -in the years and decades ahead.

Information and affiliations are current as of May 2025.

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