Respect for Human Rights

Eisai recognizes respect for human rights as our corporate responsibility, and one of the most important, fundamental requirements of our business activities. Eisai established the Charter of Business Conduct as a global standard for business activities aimed at realizing our corporate concept- human health care (hhc). The Charter of Business Conduct states that we will respect human rights wherever we do business.
In accordance with the Charter of Business Conduct, we have enacted the Eisai Human Rights Policy based on international human rights standards* in order to promote business activities grounded in respect for human rights. Eisai’s Chief HR Officer  is responsible for the implementation of this Policy.

* The international human rights standards:
・ International Bill of Human Rights (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights)
・ ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work
・ UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
・ OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises

Human Rights Policy

Eisai’s Human Rights Policy was first issued in March 2019 with the approval of the Executive Committee (now the Growth & Operating Committee: GOC), the highest decision-making body for business execution, and the consent of the Board of Directors. Subsequently, the policy was revised in July 2025 following deliberation by the Business and Human Rights Project* Steering Committee and reports to the GOC and Board of Directors. These revisions reflected the partial amendment to the Articles of Incorporation in June 2022, which redefined the main figures of the hhc concept as “patients and the people in the daily living domain,” as well as the progress of human rights initiatives.

This policy affirms our commitment to respecting internationally recognized human rights, supporting The Ten Principles as a signatory of the United Nations (UN) Global Compact, and implementing initiatives in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. It also  expresses our expectation that all business partners, including suppliers, will undertake efforts to respect human rights.

Eisai Human Rights Policy

 * For details on the Business and Human Rights Project, please refer to the “Structures and Systems” section below.

Structures and Systems

In 2018, we established a cross-organizational Business and Human Rights Project with the aim of implementing human rights initiatives and conducting human rights due diligence based on our Human Rights Policy, as is expected by the international community. This project is managed by the Business and Human Rights Project Steering Committee, chaired by the Chief HR Officer and comprising the Vice President in charge of Manufacturing, Quality, and Technology, and the Chief Compliance Officer. The Steering Committee meets twice a year in principle. The project initiatives are led by the secretariat comprising representatives from the GHR Strategy Promotion Department, Sustainability Department, Compliance Department, General Affairs and Shareholder Relations Department, and EDCS Supply Chain Management Unit.

In 1980, Eisai established the Human Rights Awareness Committee, which mainly deals with awareness raising activities at Eisai Co., Ltd. and its network companies in Japan. The Business and Human Rights Project and the Human Rights Awareness Committee work together to promote respect for human rights.

*Human Rights Due Diligence: A series of actions undertaken by a company to identify risks that could lead to adverse human rights impacts within its own operations and supply chain, implement measures to prevent or mitigate such impacts, monitor the implementation of these measures, and disclose the results.

Human Rights Due Diligence

In accordance with the Human Rights Policy, we perform human rights due diligence for rights holders related to our business such as patients and the people in the daily living domain (including clinical trial participants), employees and business partners (including suppliers).

Identification and Assessment of Adverse Impacts (Human Rights Violation Risks)

Eisai conducted periodic human rights impact assessments for key rights holders in fiscal 2018 and 2024.

In fiscal 2018, we conducted a desktop survey of human rights issues occurring within the pharmaceutical industry and analyzed the likelihood and potential impact of such issues. Assessments were based on interviews with relevant departments regarding significant human rights issues, resulting in nine areas being identified as significant human rights issues related to our business activities: “access to medicines” , “human rights of patients”, “human rights of clinical trial participants”, “product safety and quality”, “ethical marketing”, “health and safety of employees”, “workplace environment”, “human rights of business partners including suppliers”, and “environmental impact*”. Among these nine areas, “human rights in business partners including suppliers” was identified as a priority area for action.

In fiscal 2024, to identify priority countries and industries for our human rights activities, we conducted a yes/no questionnaire survey on human rights due diligence management and measures for human rights issues faced by stakeholders (workers, patients, people in the daily living domain, clinical trial participants, etc.) targeting 155 companies including sales affiliates, factories, research institutes, and business partners. We received responses from 147 companies (approximately 95% response rate). Analysis revealed that approximately 10% of responding companies require further risk reduction measures in areas such as “grievance mechanisms”, “occupational health and safety”, and “stable supply of pharmaceuticals”. We are prioritizing measures for business partners to whom we outsource distribution, wholesale and factory services in parts of Asia, such as providing human rights training to relevant employees and offering training programs for business partners.

* Global warming caused by greenhouse gases negatively impacts people in the daily living domain, and environmental pollution by business partners harms the health of local residents, making it a significant human rights issue.

Prevention and Mitigation of Adverse Impacts

Since fiscal 2019, we have prioritized preventing and mitigating potential human rights risks in the supply chain and have been working to establish a responsible supply chain management system while engaging with our business partners. For details, please refer to the section below titled “Preventing and Mitigating Human Rights Risks in the Supply Chain”.
Within the company, we implement thorough dissemination and awareness activities to ensure continuous adherence to our policy of respecting human rights.

For key human rights issues of major rights holders, we are continuously working to prevent and reduce adverse impacts on human rights through the following activities:

Human rights of patients and the people in the daily living domain

We recognize that improving access to medicines in developing and emerging countries is an important human rights issue that must be addressed. We are actively promoting initiatives to address the issue in partnership with governments, international organizations, non-profit private organizations, and others. For details, please refer to the “Initiatives for Improving Access to Medicines” section of our website.

Human rights of clinical trial participants

Clinical trials are an indispensable process for assessing the safety and efficacy of new drugs and delivering superior novel drugs to the world. It is the responsibility of pharmaceutical companies to respect the human rights of those who participate in such clinical trials and give the utmost consideration to their safety. Therefore, before beginning clinical trials, we perform due diligence to identify all possible potential safety risks and prepare countermeasures in advance. We strictly adhere to compliance and ethics based on the guidelines of the ICH (International Council for Harmonization of Pharmaceutical Regulations) and regulatory authorities in each country. In addition, maintaining high ethical standards and compliance with regulations such as ICH-GCP (Good Clinical Practice) and the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law is stipulated as a code of conduct for all clinical trials. In particular, when conducting a first-in-human trial, we have established a system in which a committee independent of the new drug development project evaluates the entire proposed clinical trial in advance. This committee evaluates the clinical trial implementation plan and system, the quality of investigational drugs, and risk management from ethical and scientific perspectives. Based on this evaluation, the committee then decides whether the clinical trial will be conducted.

Furthermore, in order to provide comprehensive and equitable access to treatment options, “Our Initiatives for Diversity in Clinical Trials” have become one of our core commitments. We are committed to maximizing clinical trial access for all patients regardless of ethnicity, race, sex, age, socio-economic status, gender identity, geographic location, or physical ability.

Human rights of employees

We recognize the importance of creating an employee-friendly environment where human rights and diversity are respected in order for employees to work in a healthy and rewarding manner. Therefore, we are committed to prohibiting all forms of discrimination based on race, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as preventing harassment, facilitating the participation and advancement of female employees in the workplace, and developing a work environment and systems for decent work.

For details, please refer to the sections on Diversity Equity and Inclusion, Employee-Friendly Environment, Health Management, and Occupational Safety and Health, as outlined in the “Relationship with Our Employees” section.

Eisai is also a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact, which states that “businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining” of employees. Additionally, the Eisai Union has been established for employees of Eisai Co., Ltd., with 1,743 union members as of the end of March 2025. Eisai Co., Ltd. and the Eisai Union engage in ongoing labor-management consultations and collaborate to address various issues between labor and management.

Human rights of business partners

We have created the “Eisai Global Code of Conduct for Business Partners” that summarizes the sustainability requirements we expect our business partners to adhere to. We request compliance with human rights and labor standards, including prohibition of forced labor, prohibition of child labor, prohibition of discrimination, fair treatment, management of wages, allowances and working hours, freedom of association, and the provision of health and safety measures. For details, please refer to the section below titled “Preventing and Mitigating Human Rights Risks in the Supply Chain”.

Initiatives to address human rights issues for major rights holders in FY2024

• *1

  For details, please refer to “Initiatives for Improving Access to Medicines”.

  https://www.eisai.com/sustainability/atm/improvingatm/index.html

• *2

  For details, please refer to “Initiatives for Lymphatic Filariasis”.

  https://www.eisai.com/sustainability/atm/ntds/lymphaticfilariasis/index.html

• *3

  For details, please refer to “Eisai Health Declaration” on our website.

  https://www.eisai.com/sustainability/society/employee/health_management/index.html

• *4

  EcoVadis platform: Ecovadis' global platform that provides enterprises with sustainability assessments for their business partners.

Preventing and Mitigating Human Rights Risks in the Supply Chain

Addressing human rights risks (child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking)

Child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking in the supply chain are internationally considered human rights violations for which there should be zero tolerance. 

Raw materials with high risk

To verify the potential for indirectly causing adverse human rights impacts through the procurement of pharmaceutical raw materials, we are conducting risk assessments on purchased raw materials where human rights risks are a concern at the most upstream tier of the supply chain. This assessment considers the geographical location of the country of origin and the characteristics of the business. Carnauba wax, which is used to coat tablets, was the subject of a purchased raw materials traceability survey due to concern about the risk of forced labor and the working environment in its place of origin. As a result, we were able to identify the company of origin in Brazil and confirmed that the raw materials were certified by a certification organization (Fair for life).

We will continue to advance traceability investigations for pharmaceutical raw materials and verify local human rights conditions.

Technical Intern Training Program (Japan)

Japan’s Technical Intern Training program has been criticized for human rights risks relating to wage, working hours and sexual harassment, and has been cited by the US Department of State as constituting forced labor. We consider this to be one of the important human rights issues in Japan, and in interviews with our business partners for feedback on sustainability evaluation, we request confirmation of the employment of foreign technical intern trainees and a report on their employment status.

Addressing human rights risks with business partners

By implementing a sustainable procurement program, we are working to prevent potential adverse impacts on human rights, labor and other issues. Under the program, we require our major business partners to submit a signed agreement to our supplier code of conduct, the “Eisai Global Code of Conduct for Business Partners” (“Code of Conduct”), committing to uphold the same respect for human rights as we do. The labor and human rights requirements in the Code of Conduct include prohibition of forced labor, prohibition of child labor, compliance with laws and regulations regarding the employment of young workers, prohibition of discrimination, fair treatment, prohibition of inhumane treatment such as harassment, strict adherence to minimum wage requirements, compliance with statutory working hours, and freedom of association.

In addition, to monitor compliance with the Code of Conduct, we implement risk assessments on human rights, labor, and environmental issues using the EcoVadis platform. For business partners identified as having risk concerns based on the assessment results, we engage them individually. We request corrective actions based on mutual agreement and strive to implement measures to prevent potential human rights risks.

Supply chain of production sites in Japan

We implement sustainable procurement targeting suppliers of direct materials in and outside of Japan (Tier-1 and major Tier-2 suppliers), including contract manufacturers at our plants in Japan. We request them to submit a signed agreement to the Code of Conduct and to participate in a sustainability performance assessment by EcoVadis. Through engagement with suppliers based on this assessment, we strive to improve the level of sustainability performance across the entire supply chain. As of the end of fiscal 2024, no companies were deemed high risk based on the assessment results.

Every year we hold a supplier briefing session to explain our policies addressing social issues such as human rights and the environment, as well as our expectations of our suppliers. The fiscal 2024 sessions were held in June (Session 6) and October (Session 7), with a total of 177 direct material suppliers participating. For these sessions, we invited speakers with expertise in sustainability: Ms. Ogi Kanaya from BSR (Business for Social Responsibility) and Attorney Kentaro Toda from TMI Associates. They delivered presentations titled “toward environmental sustainability in the supply chain” and “the necessity and background of sustainable procurement,” respectively, raising awareness about corporate responsibility for respecting human rights and environmental management.

Supply chain of overseas production sites

In fiscal year 2022, Eisai started sustainable procurement at our Vizag Plant in India and Suzhou Plant in China, as well as at Eisai's U.S. procurement division and Bogor Plant in Indonesia in fiscal 2023. Signed agreements to our Code of Conduct have been received from major direct material suppliers.

Grievance Mechanism

Eisai and our domestic network companies in and outside of Japan have established a Compliance Counter*1 as a hotline for reports and consultation. We accept all types of consultations and reports, including those concerning harassment and other human rights issues. We ensure confidentiality and prohibit retaliation, conducting investigations as necessary and responding appropriately. For our business partners, we have established a Compliance Reporting Channel*1 for inquiries and reports regarding misconduct or legal violations related to our business or employees. Furthermore, in November 2024, we joined as a full member of the Japan Center for Engagement and Remedy on Business and Human Rights (JaCER), a general incorporated association that provides the non-judicial grievance platform “Dialogue and Remedy Platform*2” aligned with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. We have established a reporting mechanism (in Japanese) for all stakeholders, including workers in our supply chain, to report human rights violations.

*1 For details, please refer to “Compliance and Risk Management”.
https://www.eisai.com/sustainability/governance/compliance/index.html..

*2 JaCER's Conduct Desk: “Engagement and Remedy Platform”
https://jacer-bhr.org/en/application/index.html

Our GDPR Privacy Statement (English) regarding complaints filed through JaCER is available here

Education and Training

We believe that in order to fulfill our corporate responsibility of respecting human rights, such respect must be firmly established in our corporate culture. To ensure that business activities are grounded in respect for human rights, we continue to raise awareness of human rights among officers and employees of Eisai and our domestic network companies.
In fiscal 2024, we conducted human rights awareness training using an e-learning platform that incorporated short video viewing, themed "Considering diversity through ‘This Is Me’". A total of 4,772 employees (participation rate: 93%), including domestic network companies joined the program.
Regarding harassment prevention, we are thoroughly implementing e-learning and compliance training. We are also incorporating human rights training into our stratified training programs for new employees and newly appointed organizational managers.

Eisai’s Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement

To comply with the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015, which came into force in the United Kingdom, Eisai Europe Ltd. released the following statement in June 2023:

Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement 2022-2023

Engagement

Eisai strives to effectively address human rights issues by sharing information on such issues among companies and collaborating with NGOs and NPOs to gather the latest information on challenges in and outside of Japan. We have joined sustainability frameworks, such as the Global Compact Network Japan, BSR (Business for Social Responsibility), and PSCI (Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Initiative). Through these engagements, we monitor international human rights trends, learning from best practices in human rights due diligence, embedding human rights internally, and collaborating with other companies to address human rights challenges through activities within specialized working groups.