Astellas believes that our innovations will play a part in improving the sustainability of society. This will build trust from society, which will, in turn, also make Astellas more sustainable.
Expectations for companies that contribute to improving the sustainability of society are increasing. Astellas believes that it is important to meet the expectations from society and will disclose the performance and progress of its sustainability activities appropriately.
We have set the Med-term Priorities for Astellas, Initiatives, and Our Commitments by FY2025 as for the two pillars relating to the 9 material issues and Environmental Sustainability issues in our Sustainability Direction. Based on our commitments, we continue to steadily promote our Sustainability Direction by setting Sustainability Directions Performance Indicators(SDPIs) and disclosing measurable and appropriate tangible actions.
- In principle, the scope of coverage is global, and performance for the period or as of the end date indicated is disclosed
- Information about pharmaceutical products(including products currently in development) which is included in this SDPIs report is not intended to constitute an advertisement or medical advice
1. Creation of new therapies and modalities for the treatment of diseases with high unmet medical needs
Providing solutions that produce better outcomes improves the lives of patients and caregivers around the world and contributes to reducing the overall load on the healthcare system.
Unit | FY2023 | FY2024 1st half | |
Number of projects with PoC*1 | projects | 0 | 0 |
Number of IND*2 filed new drug candidates | projects | 4 | 1 |
Number of new drugs launched | ー (Cumulative total since FY2023) | 5 (New: VEOZAH, IZERVAY, VYLOY Additional Indication: XTANDI (M0 CSPC), PADCEV (1L mUC)) | 5 |
Number of projects having any of Breakthrough Therapy*3, Fast Track*4, PRIME*5, Priority Review*6 and SAKIGAKE Designation System*7 | cases | 3 | 2 |
Number of new Rx+ programs | programs | 1 | 0 |
*1 PoC: Proof of Concept/To Confirm efficacy with key clinical data to decide progression to late-stage development
*2 IND: Investigational New Drug
*3 Breakthrough Therapy: Food and Drug Administration (FDA) program to facilitate the development and review of drugs for serious or life-threatening diseases.
*4 Fast Track: A system of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that provides priority review of new drugs with high therapeutic potential for diseases for which a cure is difficult to achieve.
*5 PRIME: Priority Medicines / a system implemented by European Medicines Agency (EMA) to strengthen support for the development of medicines for unmet medical needs.
*6 Priority Review: A system to give priority to medicinal products that meet certain requirements, in addition to medicinal products designated as orphan medicinal products.
*7 SAKIGAKE Designation System: Japanese system to facilitate the domestic development of innovative medicines for life-threatening diseases for which there is no effective treatment, to ensure the early commercialization of such medicines in Japan, ahead of the rest of the world.
2. Maximize patient access to Astellas’ innovations and enable them to achieve better outcomes
Access to Health is one of the material issues for both society and Astellas. We provide the access to our products for as many patients as possible, and impact more than 36 million people (cumulatively) by 2025 by improving disease awareness, prevention, and access to healthcare services.
Unit | FY2023 | FY2024 1st half | |
Core Business(Rx, Rx+) | |||
Number of patients treated with Astellas products*8 | patients (Cumulative total since 1994) | 159.5 million+ | 172 million+ |
Number of countries to where Astellas products have been delivered | countries | 103 | 103 |
Number of commercialization of Rx+ programs | programs | 0 | 0 |
Enhancing the availability of Astellas products | |||
Number of patients treated through various access programs*9 | patients | 2,055+ | approx. 2,500 |
Number of countries with various access programs | countries | 61+ | 68 |
Provide patients in countries where Astellas products are not sold with*10 access to Astellas products with a partner | patients (Cumulative total since 2023) | 100 | 100 |
Supporting third-party Access to Health programs | |||
Lives impacted through access to healthcare programs by Astellas (Cumulative total since FY2021, Excluding foundation support) | people (As of March 2024) | approx. 31,500 | approx. 172,000 |
Lives impacted through access to healthcare programs by the Astellas Global Health Foundation (AGHF) | people (Cumulative total since 2018) | 31.4 million (Cumulative total since 2018) | 31.9 million (Cumulative total since 2018) |
Total funding provided by the Astellas Global Health Foundation (AGHF) | million US$ (Cumulative total since 2018) | 13.3+ | 13.3+ |
Number of research and development activities to address access to health care issues that collaborate with partners | activities | 4 | 4 |
*8 Harnal, VESIcare, Myrbetriq(mirabegron), Prograf, XTANDI,XOSPATA, EVRENZO, PADCEV
*9 For details, please visit the following website:
Access to Medicines | Astellas Pharma Inc.
*10 For details, please visit the following website:
Initiatives in Tanzania | Astellas Pharma Inc.
3. Contribute to maintaining a sustainable healthcare system through advocating value-based pricing
Advocate for value-based pricing to maintain a sustainable healthcare system.
Unit | FY2023 | FY2024 1st half | |
Value-based pricing (VBP) <Global> | |||
Number of implementations of value-based innovative pricing solutions to address value, affordability or access | cases (Cumulative total since 2023) | 5 | 5 |
Number of countries where Astellas product is launched with value-based innovative pricing solutions (Cumulative) | countries | 2 | 2 |
Number of product/brand employing value-based innovative pricing solutions | ― | 2 | 2 |
Value-based pricing (VBP) <Japan only> | |||
Number of lectures at study groups and events through KEIDANREN*11 activities that include VBP content | cases | 3 | 0 |
Number of advocacy activity for general public including VBP content | cases | 8 | 8 |
*11 KEIDANREN: Japan Business Federation
4. Creating an environment of talent and organizational culture that promotes innovation
Ensure talents with trusted capabilities to deliver innovation and create an organizational culture that fosters innovation.
Unit | FY2023 | FY2024 1st half | |
Number of media reports after Sustainability events | cases | 8 | 4 |
Percentage of organizations with six hierarchical levels or less from the CEO | % | 83 | 82 |
Average span of control for all departments*12 | ― | 5.9 | 6 |
Employee utilization rate of internal recognition program | % | 87 | 91 |
Percentage of employees recognized through internal recognition program | % | 76 | 81 |
Employee satisfaction rate of internal recognition program | % | Measured in the future | Measured in the future |
Engagement score | ― | 71 | 69 |
*12 Span of Control: Number of subordinates managed by one manager
5. Establishment of a more sustainable and resilient value chain
Ensuring the reliable production and supply of safe and effective products even in the case of unpredictable or emergency situations is extremely important. Building a more sustainable and flexible value chain by proactively preparing the manufacturing supply chain, and energy procurement.
Unit | FY2023 | FY2024 1st half | |
Supply chain management | |||
Proportion of electricity derived from renewable energy sources over total electricity consumption | % | 40 | Will be disclosed by the end of FY2024 |
Progress of the emergency power supply reinforcement project | ― | Implementing or considering installing backup emergency power supply at manufacturing and research sites in Japan | Implementing installing backup emergency power supply at manufacturing and research sites in Japan |
Progress rate of seismic retrofitting work in manufacturing sites of earthquake-prone areas | % | 100 | 100 |
Key remarkable finding related to stable supply | ― | Continued variable activities to strengthen partnerships with suppliers. | Continued variable activities to strengthen partnerships with suppliers. |
Progress for alternative sourcing preparation in terms of geopolitical issues | ― |
| Xtandi: Mitigation actions for impacted materials completed and regulatory approvals received. Veozah: Progressed alternate source qualification toward estimated completion in 4QFY2024. Padcev: Progressed lab qualification of alternate sources, estimated date for identification of alternate sources is Dec 2024. Izervay: Assessment completed and mitigation actions defined. |
Sustainable Procurement | |||
Progress of uniform administration across all affiliates for the TPLM*13 program | ― | Completed adoption of globalized TPLM process for all affiliates and manufacturing locations | - Successfully onboarded Iveric Bio and Propella Therapeutics acquisitions onto the TPLM program. - Updated the Labour Rights questionnaire accordingly based on CSRD*14 requirements. - Incorporated refreshed Commodity Codes and Contract Request Workspace Intake Questions into TPLM process. - Introduced new ABAC*15 and Data Security due diligence tools. - Realigned the outsourced TPLM Help Desk Support model. |
Status of embedding the Business Partner Code of Conduct (BPCOC) into supplier engagement activities | ― |
| - Identified and corrected instances (by country) whereby Purchace Order Terms & Conditions were missing active links to access BPCOC. - Verified that BPCOC has been widely posted publicly, as well as included in our Supplier Onboarding forms. - Translated BPCOC document into Russian language. |
Status of annual spending with small and diverse suppliers in order to expand the footprint to non-US regions | ― |
| - Awarded over $119 million USD to Small Businesses related to our contract with the Veterans Affairs, and a total of $145 million USD to Small Businesses across all Astellas US entities. - Reconciled SME database against our existing global suppliers/spend; currently collaborating with Master Data and SAP Reporting teams to operationalize visibility into our global Small & Diverse footprint going forward. |
Progress of interweaving the Sustainable Procurement Pledge into the Astellas culture | ― |
| - Conducted Sustainable Business Partner Summit with our top 350 suppliers (in terms of spend), including those deemed Strategic & Preferred, whereby Astellas executives outlined our commitments and associated expectations of external partners to assist us in reaching the goals set forth within the Sustainable Procurement Pledge. |
Progress of factoring sustainability criteria into decision-making process when awarding business to a supplier | ― |
| Exploring the use of specific ESG focused language in our supplier agreements |
Progress of incorporating sustainability into the SRM*17 governance model for our Strategic and Preferred suppliers | ― |
| - Post the Sustainable Business Partner Summit, we issued a survey to ensure alignment with Astellas objectives, understanding of each supplier's level of sustainability maturity, and potential solicitation of primary GHG data. - Additionally, we assessed our top 350+ suppliers (100% Strategic & Preferred included) representing over 1.4 million tons of emissions annually to determine which of them have set environmental targets. - Discovered that 32% publicly disclose on CDP, and 28% have either committed to or set targets through SBT*18 certification. |
*13 TPLM: Third Party Lifecycle Management
*14 CSRD:Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive
*15 ABAC:Anti-Bribery Anti-Corruption。For details, please visit the following website:
Primary Areas of Focus | Astellas Pharma Inc.
*16 SME:Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
*17 SRM:Supplier Relationship Management
*18 For details, please visit the following website:
Astellas Receives SBTi Approval for Revised Science-Based Climate Goals to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
6. Further improve product quality
Ensure product quality assurance and safety for patients by fostering a "Culture of Quality" and enhancing the customer experience.
Unit | FY2023 | FY2024 1st half | |
Product Quality Assurance | |||
Culture of Quality awareness material shared through various internal communications channels | - | Delivered messages by top and senior management including CEO, about the importance of quality. | Delivered messages by top and senior management about the importance of quality from various functions (DigitalX, Technology & Manufacturing, Medical & Development) |
Completed Culture of Quality scorecard for commercial manufacturing facilities | - | Completed Culture of Quality scorecard assessment for commercial manufacturing facilities (Takaoka, Toyama, Takahagi, Yaizu, Dublin, Kerry, Shenyang) and identified target challenges to focus on for FY24. | Completed the design of a common quality culture questionnaire construct |
Lean Six Sigma*19 materials and tools shared across communication platforms | - |
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*19 Lean Six Sigma: Lean Six Sigma Program is a pillar of the Culture of Quality Program and a leadership approach to maximize efficiency, create whitespace(resources needed to explore new ideas) and reduce cost within Astellas
7. Achievement of the amount of reasonable reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
Astellas has set GHG emission targets consistent with The Paris Agreement and has received the SBT certification. Aim to achieve by FY2025 the amount of reasonable reduction of GHG emissions target.
[GHG emission reduction targets by FY2030]*20
・Scope1+2
63% reduction (base year: FY2015)
・Scope 3
37.5% reduction (base year: FY2015)
Unit | FY2023 | FY2024 1st half | |
GHG emission reduction ratio (Scope1+2) | % | 39.8 | Will be disclosed by the end of FY2024 |
GHG emission reduction ratio (Scope3) | % | 18.7 | n/a |
Energy consumption | TJ | 2,005 | n/a |
Percentage of electricity derived from renewable energy sources | % | 40 | n/a |
Water resource productivity | billions of yen/1,000 m3 | 0.25 | n/a |
Waste generated per unit of revenue | Tons/billions of yen | 8.1 | n/a |
Biodiversity index | ― | 4.9 | n/a |
Percentage of low emission vehicles in sales fleet | % | 59 | n/a |
Number of CMOs*21 to be assessed via TPLM program | cases | 25 | n/a |
*20 For details, please visit the following website:
Environment Initiatives | Astellas Pharma Inc.
ESG Data | Astellas Pharma Inc.
*21 CMO: Contracted Manufacturing Organizations