Eisai is particularly well known in Japan for the household names of Chocola BB and Nabolin. However, such over-the-counter drugs account for only a small percentage of our sales, which comprise mostly of prescription drugs. Currently, the company's core products such as Aricept, for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and Pariet (U.S.brand name: AcipHex), a proton pump inhibitor are used as leading world brands in over 70 countries, helping to improve the quality of life (QOL) of patients and their families. Eisai's efforts are bearing substantial fruit in the search for new treatments and pharmaceuticals from the perspective of patients and other consumers using our medicines.

Eisai continues to focus investment in resources for its three key strengths of neuroscience and oncology, making every effort to discover new, highly effective drugs. Furthermore, Eisai has established a thorough “seamless value chain” which enables consistent business operation throughout stages from R&D to manufacturing and marketing, thereby not only ensuring high efficiency and productivity levels, but also maintaining and improving such factors as cost effectiveness, quality and services in the long term, delivering added value to patients. At the basis of these business activities is the corporate philosophy of “human health care” (hhc) that is shared by all employees at Eisai and goes beyond nationality, gender and age.

Generally speaking, the process from discovery research to marketing of a new drug takes between nine and 17 years, requiring anything from billions to tens of billions of yen in R&D costs. Eisai focuses investment in resources for its three key strengths of neuroscience and oncology, and continues to conduct research and management to meet stakeholder needs, developing revolutionary new drugs, adding new indications and formulations to existing products, and engaging in Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A). The company is beginning to amass promising new candidates in its key fields at the late clinical trial stage.