Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Osaka, Japan; President, Representative Director, Gyo Sagara) announced that it has started a temporary assignment program to venture companies, "V2V (Voyage to Venture)" and an in-house business contest, "HOPE" as from October 2021 in the Ono Innovation Platform (OIP), which was established as a foundation for accelerating the challenges of our staff.

　We have been working to promote our “strengthening corporate infrastructure”, in order to improve our corporate value and achieve sustainable growth.
　One of the important themes in the "strengthening corporate infrastructure" is the development of "human resources (talent)" that will be the source of further innovation creation, and the establishment of a corporate culture that supports the challenges of our staff.
　Therefore, in May 2021, in addition to the currently existing talent development measures, we established an OIP that provides a place where innovation can occur in a multifaceted and focused manner. In the OIP, we will promote to establish an organization in which innovation talent can grow not only in the R&D department but in the whole departments within the company, by providing training to acquire basic business knowledge, in addition to the temporary assignment program to venture companies, "V2V" and the in-house business contest, "HOPE", which are programs that actively support the voluntary activities and challenges of our staff.

Temporary assignment program to venture companies, "V2V (Voyage to venture)"

　V2V is a program in which our staff will be transferred to a venture company temporarily for one year. By working as a staff of a venture company, we aim to gain experience that we cannot do within our company and promote growth as an innovation talent. The staff will contribute to business development at the venture company and return the experience gained there after coming back to the company, by which we will strengthen our organization. In this program, five of our staff will be transferred to venture companies temporarily for one year from October 1, 2021.

In-house business contest, "HOPE"

　HOPE is an in-house business contest in which our staff propose business plans. Positioning it as a place for voluntary challenges of our staff that connect what they have learned and experienced to practice, we will actively support the creation of innovation and the development of talent. In this program, staff themselves will start from their own ideas, face a wide range of customer issues regardless of our business operations, and propose new solutions. The final selection meeting will be held in June 2022, and the adopted business plan will continue to be considered for business operation.

About Ono Innovation Platform (OIP)

　OIP is a program that accelerates the challenges of our staff and fosters innovation. In order for us to achieve dramatic growth in the future, we need to develop more talent who have their will and qualities to pursue innovation. Therefore, in May 2021, we established the OIP with the aim of creating an environment where our staff can expand their potential and grow into innovators, and can take on voluntary challenges with excitement.
　OIP consists of three areas of "learning" "experience" and "challenge", and is an initiative that actively supports staff to expand their potential and grow.

• “Learning” area
  Since June 2021, we have been holding training and workshops named "Innovation Cafe". We hold seminars to learn about the latest business trends and case studies of problem-solving methods based on design thinking.
• “Experience” area
  We are aiming to gain experience unique to venture companies, which is different from large companies.
• “Challenge“ area
  From October 2021, we will hold an in-house business contest, "HOPE". This is a program that brushes up ideas based on the thoughts of staff themselves through internal and external support and proposes businesses.