EISAI SIGNS PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT WITH APOLLO HOSPTIALS AND HELPAGE INDIA TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO MEDCINES IN INDIA

Eisai Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, President & CEO: Haruo Naito) announced today that its Indian subsidiary Eisai Pharmaceuticals India Pvt. Ltd. (Mumbai, India) has signed a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agreement with Apollo Hospitals (Executive Chairman: Dr. Prathap C. Reddy, Headquarters: Chennai, India) and HelpAge India (President: Amal Ganguli, Headquarters: New Dehli, India) aimed at improving access to medicines in India. A PPP is a partnership between a private company and a public body, often involving non-profit entities and non-governmental organizations. PPPs can make a contribution towards improving the quality of healthcare in emerging countries and regions by combining the resources of the multiple organizations in innovative ways.

Apollo Hospitals is the largest healthcare provider in Asia and the world's third largest, with medical facilities in over fifty locations in India and around the world. Established in 1978, HelpAge India is the largest not-for-profit advocacy group working to voice the needs of the elderly in India. Under the PPP agreement, the three parties will develop and implement a program to educate, screen, diagnose, treat and improve adherence among patients for Alzheimer's disease and depression. The partnership program will create greater opportunity for early disease detection, diagnosis and access to quality medical care.

Access is often impeded by poverty and insufficiencies in healthcare infrastructure. Despite the advancements in effective medical therapies, many people around the world continue to lack the ability to access essential healthcare and medicines. Improving access to medicines is such countries and regions are a global challenge that needs to be tackled by national governments, international organizations and pharmaceutical companies alike.

Eisai is determined to be proactive in improving access to medicines worldwide through partnerships with governments, international organizations, and other private sector companies. However, improving access to medicines involves more than simply assuring the supply of medicines. Rather, it necessitates innovations and solutions that assess the local healthcare needs. Eisai believes that instead of adhering to existing business strategies, models of access to medicines need to take into account affordability for patients and society, shared-decision-making with patient and family understanding of disease and treatment, and adherence to therapies based on this decision-making process. Eisai invests in the development and implementation of initiatives based on the sustainable provision of healthcare from a medium-to-long term perspective.

Beginning with this agreement, Eisai is committed to developing new partnership-based business models that are mutually beneficial for both the company and its partners over the medium-to-long term.

[ Please refer to the following notes for further information on Apollo Hospitals and HelpAge India ]

Media Inquiries:

Public Relations Department,
Eisai Co., Ltd.
+81-(0)3-3817-5120

< Notes to editors >

1. About Apollo Hospitals

Headquartered in Chennai, India, Apollo Hospitals is the largest healthcare corporation in Asia and the third largest in the world, operating over fifty hospitals in South Asia. Apollo Hospital Delhi is the first hospital in India to be accredited by the JCAHO (Joint Commission of Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) and is affiliated with U.S.-based Johns Hopkins Medicine International, the Mayo Clinic, and many major hospitals in the United States and Europe.
In addition to hospitals, Apollo operates Nursing and Hospital Management colleges, pharmacies, diagnostic clinics, and is engaged in medical transcription, third-party administration and telemedicine. The Apollo Group has also set up a chain of nearly sixty branded day-to-day retail clinics on a franchised basis across India and the Middle East through its wholly owned subsidiary.

2. About HelpAge India

HelpAge India is a secular, not-for-profit organization registered under the Societies' Registration Act of 1860. Established in 1978 to raise resources to protect the rights of India's elderly and provide relief to them through various interventions, HelpAge voices the needs of India's 90 million (current estimate) “grey” population, and directly impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of elders through its services every year. The organization advocates with national and local government to bring about policy that is beneficial to the elderly, raises awareness of the concerns of the aged and promotes better understanding of ageing issues, and helps the elderly become aware of their own rights so that they get their due and are able to play an active role in society.