Empowering The People to Realize Their Fullest Life
As the super-aging of society progresses not only in industrialized nations but also globally, the structure of the healthcare industry, including pharmaceutical companies, is undergoing significant changes under the innovation taking place in AI and other digital and network technologies. It is shifting from the conventional model with a coherent supply chain to a horizontal division of roles among various players that include start-up companies. To deal with such changes, the Group launched “EWAY Future & Beyond” in April 2021—a new medium-term business plan that follows “EWAY Current”, which commenced in FY2016.
In “EWAY Future & Beyond”, the first five years starting in FY2021 is “EWAY Future”, while FY2026 onward is “EWAY Beyond”. The perspective will be shifted from that of patients to The People or each consumer. With “empowering The People to realize their fullest life” as the vision, we will promote creating solutions based on scientific evidence in the areas of our expertise: neurology and oncology. Additionally, we will further enhance the hhc (human health care) process that is based on the hhc philosophy that we have long been implementing. In the hhc process, we obtain an understanding of the anxieties of our customers, and we resolve those anxieties by formulating strategies for their removal. We will keep ourselves close to the lives of The People by enhancing this process. As a result of such efforts, we will aim to evolve the hhc process to “hhceco”, which is a combination of the hhc philosophy and an ecosystem that will support and enable The People to realize their fullest life from the time that they are in good health up to the final moments of their lives.
The Eisai Universal Platform (EUP) is the pillar for the achievement of hhceco. The EUP is a platform consisting of the assets that are the Group’s strengths. It will aim to remove the diverse anxieties of The People through the construction of an ecosystem in collaboration with various industries, local governments, and others. Through the synchronization of the technologies of various external partners and the in-house technologies (R&D) of the Company, the EUP will also include the virtual or actual delivery of packaged solutions, including pharmaceuticals. Specifically, we will aim to create new solutions through organic collaboration between external technologies and in-house digital technologies, such as data sciences, gene analysis, and data analysis, and drug-discovery technologies. Expected solutions include the following: in the area of daily life, solutions to maintain and support good health, to build awareness related to diseases, as well as those for disease prevention, checkups, and hospital searches; in the medical field, solutions for accurate diagnosis and confirmation of the effectiveness of treatments (drug and non-drug treatments) as well as measures that will contribute to improving quality of life. In relation to the area of daily life, such solutions will be delivered through digital (virtual) means such as apps, websites and social media. In the medical field, the solutions will be delivered through owned media, online services such as digital promotions as well as face-to-face communication. Through these solutions, we will aim to remove the anxieties of The People. Furthermore, in regard to the ecosystem, we will promote the development of insurance products in the insurance industry, the development of new programs in relation to disease prevention in the fitness industry, and promotion of projects by local governments for disease prevention.
As for research and development under “EWAY Future & Beyond”, through the evolution of biomarkers, we will shift from diagnosis based on symptoms and/or tumors to disease continuum analysis based on pathophysiology, and we will aim for the provision of precision medicine. Specifically, in regard to Alzheimer’s disease (AD), we will realize continuous brain health panel diagnosis, which makes quantitative and over-time measurements of pathophysiological biomarkers for a precise diagnosis of each person’s stage within the disease continuum, and aim to realize appropriate treatment in which drugs are determined based on precise diagnosis. Meanwhile, in the area of oncology, we will aim to achieve early diagnosis based on genome information and realize individualized medicine that enables selection of the optimal treatment method for each patient by obtaining an even deeper understanding of cancer evolution through the continuous DNA analysis of the circulating tumor cells in the bloodstream, and next-generation DNA sequence analysis.
Under “EWAY Future & Beyond”, the Group will continue to carry out efforts for new drug development and generation of new evidence to contribute to the elimination of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) under the partnership with the Japan-based Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) Fund, and NPOs and NGOs with extensive experience in drug discovery related to NTDs.