Astellas is committed to our mission of sustainable enhancement of enterprise value in alignment with our raison d'etre,"To contribute toward improving the health of people around the world through the provision of innovative and reliable pharmaceutical products." In other words, for Astellas, contributing to societal sustainability means the realization of our business philosophy. While leveraging our strengths and capabilities, we will deliver VALUE to society by creating innovative new drugs and healthcare solutions that improve access to health and outcomes (results and conditions) for patients. We believe 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.
In the healthcare field, social needs are shifting to therapeutic areas with a high level of unmet medical needs, and innovative healthcare solutions based on the next generation modalities (therapeutic methods) and digital technology are eagerly anticipated.
In the midst of these changing social trends, Astellas has evolved its strategy to build on success through Corporate Strategic Plan 2021 and has set a strategic goal to "deepen our engagement in sustainability". In addition, Astellas has updated our Materiality Matrix to guide our sustainability efforts, selecting key issues from the perspective of importance for society and Astellas. We then prioritized the material issues and will formulate action plans for each of the material topics identified, which will contribute to the improvement of sustainability through company-wide efforts.
The following explains how Astellas' efforts to evolve sustainability described above will lead to increased enterprise value from two perspectives.
Astellas’ Sustainability Story
1. Transforming to be a cutting-edge, VALUE-driven life science innovator
There are patients and their families suffering from diseases with no or limited treatment options that cannot provide satisfactory outcome in society. Astellas is pursuing transformative healthcare solutions that do not simply alleviate the symptoms of diseases. Instead, we are developing innovative therapeutics, such as cell and gene therapies, which are disease-modifying and directly address the underlying cause of the disease. Symptomatic treatment not only places a burden on the patient through commuting to the hospital and inpatient stays, but also increases the burden on their families who nurse and care for them as the social and economic losses are not small. By actively creating innovative treatment measures, Astellas aims to free patients and their families from years of treatment and care, while significantly improving symptoms with only a few treatment cycles. As a result, patients can return to their normal lives sooner, thereby reducing the overall load on the local healthcare system far and wide from the constant need for medical treatment.
We believe that one of the most important driving forces to create and deliver great VALUE to society is an organizational culture that realizes innovation. Astellas will continue our endeavor to cultivate an organizational culture and achieve sustainable value creation through acquiring and developing talent in order to provide the access to healthcare solutions we have created to as many patients as possible. In addition, in order to sustainably create innovative therapeutic approaches and other innovations, it is necessary to set appropriate prices for innovations. Astellas will also cultivate an environment and scheme to ensure that prices fairly reflect the value impact on society, including patients, their families, and the healthcare professionals who support patients' health.
2. Strengthening resilient and sustainable business operations to meet the expectations of society
Astellas manufactures products of excellence in quality at the global standard and continue to deliver safe products to patients. It is our mission to ensure the stable delivery of our products to patients under any circumstances. While ensuring the protection of human rights and safety of all those engaged in procurement, manufacturing, and distribution, ensuring resilient supply chain management in the change of external environment throughout the supply chain. In addition, we will continue to provide information to facilitate the safe and appropriate use of our products by patients. We will foster trust from society by always thinking of patients and their families who are suffering from diseases, considering what healthcare solutions are best for them and what Astellas' products can contribute to them, and continuing our activities in an ethical manner. We act with compliance and high ethical business practices in all aspects of our business as well as the provision of product information. In addition, we contribute to the societal sustainability with evolving our governance to ensure fair management decisions and operations.
In closing,
Astellas believes that our efforts to evolve sustainability will contribute to the achievement of various UN Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs), with a primary focus on SDG Goal 3 (ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages). We believe that Astellas plays an important role in supporting a bright future for society, including patients, and we will continue our efforts to realize a sustainable society through our business activities while collaborating and engaging in dialogue with our stakeholders.