As of April 13, 2023
We would like to express our deepest sympathies to all those affected by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). We sincerely hope the earliest recovery from the disease and the complete end of coronavirus infection.
As a life-related pharmaceutical company, we are implementing the efforts in a stable supply of pharmaceutical products and contribution to the R&D of therapeutic drugs. We are also taking various measures to ensure the safety and health of employees, their families and all of our stakeholders, as well as to prevent the spread of infection.
Company’s efforts
1. Stable supply of pharmaceutical products
Regarding the production and supply of pharmaceutical products in and outside of Japan, we maintain a stable supply in cooperation with our affiliated companies and business partners. For the time being, there are no problem in the production and supply of products to medical institutions.
2. Contributions to the R&D of therapeutic drugs
We conducted a Phase III study in patients with novel coronavirus infection with camostat mesilate, an oral protease inhibitor, which is currently approved for the treatment of chronic pancreatitis and postoperative reflux esophagitis. In this study, we could not demonstrate the efficacy of the product and decided to discontinue the development in this disease. We have been supplying the product for clinical studies based on requests from medical institutions and research organizations both in Japan and abroad.
3. Activities to provide information to healthcare workers
Although we had refrained from visiting medical institutions in order to prevent the spread of infection, we are shifting to system which allows us to provide information to healthcare professionals and collect drug safety information even under the telework condition. Since June 2020, we have been engaged in providing information by adopting new methods, such as interviews through the Web and planning remote lecture meetings.
4. Efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus infection
- Except for those who are engaged in operations that require their attendance for business continuity, such as research and development, stable supply and promotion of proper use of pharmaceutical products, we have established an upper limit for the attendance rate and devised ways to reduce the risk of infection such as staggered working hours.
The attendance rate of employees who can work from home was 39.5% in March 2023. - In order to ensure the safety of employees who come to their offices to work, we take the utmost preventive measures, such as temperature measurement, wearing masks, encouraging hand washing and alcohol disinfection, and securing social distance.
- We continue to thoroughly practice basic infection prevention for domestic and overseas business trips. For overseas business trips, in addition to thorough infection prevention, we conduct antigen tests as needed after returning to Japan and confirm that the results are negative before returning to work.
- We prioritize using the Web for lectures, internal and external training, etc. When face-to-face meetings are required, we take thorough measures to prevent infections, such as adjusting the number of participants to ensure social distance.
In order to challenge toward the realization of the corporate philosophy of “Dedicated to the Fight against Disease and Pain,” we all work together to ensure a stable supply of products, and continue to provide the necessary support for the treatment and early end of coronavirus infection of this situation.