Message from Management on D&I

We are committed to becoming a top innovator in the global healthcare industry through diversity and inclusion. Representative Director, President & CEO Dr. Osamu Okuda

Chugai launched a strategic alliance with Roche in 2002, focusing on the continuous creation of innovation to deliver “innovative products and services” to patients on an ongoing basis. Looking back, Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) has been fundamental to the success of this alliance. Despite our different backgrounds, Chugai and Roche share much in common, including a patient-centric philosophy of “Innovation all for the patient,” a strong commitment to innovation, and a culture of mutual respect. By learning about each other’s perspectives through frank discussion and dialogue, we have created synergies and have built a strong relationship of trust that goes beyond mere business partnerships. As a result, I am confident that the capabilities of our organization and human resources have greatly improved, leading to the dramatic growth of our business performance.

In 2019, Chugai declared that it would work toward becoming a top innovator in the healthcare industry to realize advanced and sustainable patient-centric healthcare. In doing so, our basic policy is to strive for the creation of shared value for Chugai and society.

That said, the environment surrounding the healthcare industry continue to change dramatically. Healthcare is becoming more sophisticated with digitization and the practical application of new technologies for drug discovery. In developed countries including Japan, social security expenses are increasing, such as the rising cost of medical and nursing care. This is driven by the declining birthrate, the aging population, and the increasing sophistication of medical care. As a result, funding issues are constraining medical expenditures in many countries around the world. Moreover, the global outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 has also led to significant changes in people’s lifestyle and values. Amid such turbulent change in the environment, Value Based HealthCare (VBHC), in which only medicines and solutions that offer true value are chosen, is expected to accelerate even further. Creating high-value drugs has taken on increasing importance.

To create value without interruption going forward, we must maximize our strengths while driving continuous innovation through divergent ideas and perspectives that are not bound by existing frameworks. I strongly believe that the source of innovation is “people.” With the growing number of female employees, non-Japanese employees, and mid-career hires from different industries in our ranks, we have witnessed increasing diversity in terms of ideas and abilities. In order to promote innovation, it is extremely important that all employees with diverse views play a leading role and demonstrate their abilities. Therefore, I believe that the promotion of D&I can serve as a major driver of success in this area. This is why Chugai has positioned D&I as a priority management issue and will promote D&I aggressively.

Our efforts to promote D&I began in 2010 with gender diversity. Since then, based on the shared understanding that diverse values and expertise can generate innovation, we have expanded the scope to include senior employees and non-Japanese employees, working to create an environment in which diverse human resources to play an active role.

In gender diversity, we envisioned a future in which more women are in leadership positions and a diverse range of employees, regardless of their attributes, play an active role in decision-making. To achieve this, we have set the ratio of women in management positions and as managers at 17% by the end of 2023. As a result of our focus on measures for the career development and training of women, the ratios of female managers and supervisors were 15.9% and 15%, respectively, as of the end of 2021. Going forward, we will continue to work toward our goal of having the ratio of female employees at each level reach the company-wide ratio by the end of 2030. To enable all employees to realize their own work-life synergy regardless of childbirth, childcare, or nursing care needs, we have also established a working environment that allows for highly flexible work styles, including the promotion of teleworking.

To continue the creation of innovation in a harsh, unpredictable business environment, it is important that we not only understand diversity but also foster an inclusive organizational culture. We will continue to promote the creation of innovation through the active participation of a diverse workforce in which different values and ideas are mutually respected. This year, 2022, marks the start of our “Job Satisfaction Reforms,” including the promotion of D&I, to increase the number of “effective employees.” We will continue to provide new value to society and further promote D&I to realize our goal of becoming a top innovator in the healthcare industry that that strives for the mutual development of Chugai and society.

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