Towards Realization of DE&I

In accordance with our Articles of Incorporation, which states that Eisai is committed to “effectively achieve social good”, we have made it a central mission of our business to work with various stakeholders, including the public sector, to address social issues. We believe that social good is comprised of three main elements: (1) relieving anxiety over health; (2) reducing health disparities; and (3) supporting healthcare based on empathy with patients. We believe the term “effectively” includes raising capital and funding, bringing together diverse talent, leveraging digital and other technologies, and building an ecosystem model as a business model. The consistent concept that underpins these efforts is the spirit of cooperation and collaboration with others, which is precisely what we are striving for—efficiency and creativity through Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I). For Eisai, the promotion of DE&I is an important initiative to realize our corporate concept.

In order to enhance creativity and increase efficiency, it is of utmost importance to have a diverse workforce (Diversity). To attract talent, it is absolutely necessary to ensure fair and transparent opportunities (Equity) for human resources and talent to fully demonstrate their capabilities both inside and outside the company, and to have a culture and environment where they can function as an integral part of achieving high-impact goals (equity and Inclusion). These are prerequisites for engaging in business with global impact.

We believe that DE&I is about people from different backgrounds coming together, recognizing each other’s values (tacit knowledge), and achieving a state of shared awareness and empathy for the significance of working together in a spirit of collaboration rather than isolation, and about what needs to be achieved in terms of goals and targets.

Achieving this is not an easy task, and we must also fully understand that in any group situation, the views and opinions of marginalized groups (such as racial, ethnic, sexual and gender minorities) and vulnerable persons tend to be overlooked, and that the views and opinions of the dominant group tend to prevail in various situations.

It is important for us to never shy away from considering why someone has a different opinion from ours or why they insist on B instead of A. Over time, we may come to understand and appreciate the basis for their arguments. If we are to enjoy the true value of diversity, it is critical that we continue to consider these points, trust in the power of time, and recognize that other people’s views may change as well.

Needless to say, our work is predicated on collaboration with people from different backgrounds who have different perspectives and ideas from our own. For example, drug discovery would not be possible without collaboration with academia, even though businesspeople and academics have different objectives, work on different time frames, and sometimes hold contrasting values. DE&I, which transcends such differences to generate new ideas, is truly the starting point of drug discovery.

Our business operates on a global level, and it is inevitable that situation differs from country to country in various aspects such as systems, culture, and values. It is simply not possible for people from a single country to run a global business smoothly, and a multinational management team is essential to provide leadership. It is clear that all of our activities—from clinical research to regulatory, medical, commercial and production—would not be possible without DE&I.

Furthermore, collaboration with other industries is an essential element of Eisai’s future business model, which is based on disease-specific ecosystems, and may call for collaboration with partners whose objectives and interests do not necessarily align with our own. Gaining greater impetus to move forward based on DE&I is central to Eisai’s growth strategy and a source of our innovation creation.

An even more fundamental point for Eisai is that patients and the people in the daily living domain are not distinguished by age, gender, or nationality. To properly understand their emotions, we must embody a rich diversity, including gender balance. Therefore, it is imperative that we achieve true diversity and inclusion in the system in which we think, strategize, and make decisions on various matters every day in order to better understand the emotions of patients and the people in the daily living domain, and to most efficiently realize how to increase the benefits that we provide to them.

DE&I brings great creativity and the power to solve problems, but in order to realize this power, it is important to have the knowledge that ‘being different is natural’ and ‘being different is the norm’. This understanding must take root in both Eisai’s organizational knowledge and the knowledge of each and every employee. Eisai is committed to realizing the human health care Concept and fulfilling its raison d'être in the world through a management structure that can demonstrate strengths in DE&I.