Respect for Human Rights

The Astellas Charter of Corporate Conduct and the Astellas Group Code of Conduct clearly state that members of the Astellas Group shall respect human rights and the personality and individuality of all its employees, observe all applicable international rules and local regulations, and embrace all cultures and customs. The recognition of the importance of respecting human rights is shared by Group companies worldwide.

Astellas has disclosed its Position on Human Rights since April 2017. Wherever we operate, Astellas comply with applicable local labor and employment laws and respect internationally-recognized basic human rights and labor standards, such as the International Bill of Human Rights, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), and the International Labour Organization's (ILO's) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work

Also, Astellas conducted a human rights impact assessment and has identified five human rights issues to which we pay particular attention as human rights in clinical trials and other research and development activities, product safety and counterfeit drugs, Access to Health, human rights in the workplace and human rights in the community and environment. Moreover, under the U.K. Modern Slavery Act 2015, we publish a Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement for each fiscal year, describing what steps we have taken to address this risk in our own operations or our supply chains.

We have established a system for swiftly responding to human rights issues that includes the setting up of external and internal helplines, as well as conducting training sessions for employees. In June and July 2019 Astellas conducted Global Ethics & Compliance 2019 Employee Survey to better understand the Astellas culture and behaviors covering a speaking up culture which includes human rights and fair labor matters and identify potential areas for enhancements to operational excellence and potential compliance risks. In the year ended March 2021, there were no critical human rights issues or other issues of common, worldwide concern reported in the survey.