Daiichi Sankyo

We’re pleased to introduce our new Chief Compliance Officer Matt Allegrucci. A proven leader of more than 20 years at Daiichi Sankyo, Matt has been tasked with developing the company’s first global compliance program and infrastructure. The program will focus on maintaining trust at the center of Daiichi Sankyo’s growth and transformation. “The trust of patients, physicians and everyone with a stake in our business is essential to the long-term success of the organization and our mission. The job of compliance, simply put, is to ensure we earn that trust.” Click to read how the importance of trust was instilled in Matt at a young age and became a central tenet of his career—and how he and his team help make compliance training fun. Passion for Innovation. Compassion for Patients.®

New Daiichi Sankyo Greece affiliate opens in Athens. Daiichi Sankyo recently opened a new affiliate for our oncology business in Athens, Greece, underscoring our company’s unwavering commitment to meeting the needs of cancer patients and improving access to our innovative medicines. Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women in Greece, while lung cancer is the leading cause in men. By opening our new Greece affiliate, we'll be able to respond more directly to the needs of these patients. Thomais Konstantopoulou, Country Manager of Daiichi Sankyo Greece, points out: “Daiichi Sankyo is investing in Greece, which aligns with the country’s ambition to create conditions that foster innovation, talent retention, technology advancement and economic growth. We are focused on advancing meaningful innovation and creating jobs in a sustainable manner.” Passion for Innovation. Compassion for Patients.®

August 1st to 7th is "Nutrition Week" in Japan, and August 4th was “Nutrition Day.” Both were established by the Japan Dietetic Association to raise awareness of the importance of good nutrition during the warm summer months when “summer fatigue” is more likely to occur. During the hot and humid summers in Japan, many people experience loss of appetite and feel less motivation to cook. As a result, they often rely on eating cold noodles, which are quick and easy to prepare but contain a lot of carbohydrates and lack vitamin B1, which helps with our metabolism. Without enough B1, carbohydrates from convenient foods like noodles or bread cannot be converted into energy, summer fatigue and lethargy cannot be alleviated, and appetite further decreases, creating a "fatigue cycle.” This summer to help people in Japan come up with recipes for nutritional balanced meals, Daiichi Sankyo is collaborating with the leading multinational food and biotechnology corporation, Ajinomoto Co., Inc., an AI-driven menu planning website called ReTabell (in Japanese only). ReTabell instantly suggests recipes to address how a person is feeling, also taking into account the effect of any illnesses or medications they are experiencing and placing an emphasis on nutritional balance according to the Japan Dietetic Association’s guidelines. On Nutrition Day, Daiichi Sankyo is proud to help contribute to quality of life in Japan by working with Ajinomoto to provide people with a wide variety of easy-to-make menus suitable for the hot summer weather. Passion for Innovation. Compassion for Patients.®

Launched in 2016, Daiichi Sankyo Korea’s “Sincerity Campaign” teaches CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and raises awareness of blood donations for cancer patients. Since 2016, a total of 3,408 students and citizens have learned CPR from Daiichi Sankyo Korea colleagues. This year, about 80 qualified CPR instructor employees visited Bukgajwa Elementary School and taught CPR to 383 elementary school students. In addition, this year’s “Sincerity Campaign also included an initiative to raise awareness of the importance of blood transfusions and platelet donations for cancer patients. Daiichi Sankyo Korea employees served as campaigners to encourage people to donate blood for cancer patients while also giving blood themselves. Reflecting on this year’s activities, Daiichi Sankyo Korea President, Jeong-tae Kim said, “This year’s Sincerity Campaign is more significant since it includes a blood donation campaign for cancer patients in addition to the CPR training. Daiichi Sankyo Korea is committed to fulfilling our responsibility in the communities where we operate, making meaningful contributions to promoting health of our society as well as delivering innovative medicines to meet unmet medical needs in South Korea.”

Dr. Umetaro Suzuki was a renowned scientist who made significant contributions to research and discovery in the field of vitamins. Born in 1874, Dr. Suzuki discovered an active component in rice bran, which he named "Orizanin." This component, now known as vitamin B1, was the first vitamin to be discovered in the world. In the course of his work, Dr. Suzuki had strong ties to both of Daiichi Sankyo’s predecessor companies, Sankyo Co., Ltd. and Daiichi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Click to learn more about this important scientist with a passion for research and a dedication to improving people's lives, a spirit which continues to inspire us at Daiichi Sankyo. #dshistory #daiichisankyo Passion for Innovation. Compassion for Patients.®

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver caused by a variety of infectious viruses and noninfectious agents, leading to a range of health problems, some of which can be fatal. It is also the leading cause of liver cancer. World Hepatitis Day is observed each year on July 28 to help raise awareness of the five main strains of the hepatitis virus, referred to as types A, B, C, D and E, and to encourage prevention, diagnosis and treatment of this communicable disease. The date July 28 commemorates the birthday of Dr Baruch Blumberg, who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1976 for discovering the hepatitis B virus. The World Health Organization’s global hepatitis strategy aims to “reduce new hepatitis infections by 90% and deaths by 65% between 2016 and 2030.” However, according to the WHO, low coverage of testing and treatment is the most important gap to be addressed to achieve that goal. The theme of this year’s World Hepatitis Day is “It’s time for action,” which highlights the need for “collaborative action to expand access to diagnosis and treatment in countries.” On World Hepatitis Day 2024, we encourage everyone to get tested, get treated, and get vaccinated to help eliminate hepatitis. Passion for Innovation. Compassion for Patients.®

“The greatest surgeons are not always those who are the most technically proficient, rather the ones who are able to overcome the unexpected in the operating room, and still reach success for the patient.” Click to learn more about Michael A. Grosso MD, FACS, Vice President, Global Head of Specialty Medicine Development at Daiichi Sankyo, his life as a former heart surgeon, and the fulfilling career he found outside the operating room. Passion for Innovation. Compassion for Patients.®

Yesterday, July 15, was the ”Marine Day” public holiday in Japan, which is dedicated to showing appreciation and gratitude for the ocean. Marine Day officially became a public holiday in 1996, and since 2003, always falls on the third Monday in July. Before 1996, Marine Day was known as “Marine Memorial Day,” which was similarly established in the mid-20th century to express the country’s gratitude for the ocean, as well as to recognize the ocean’s importance to Japan as an island nation surrounded by water. As a relatively new public holiday, there aren’t any specific, traditional ways of celebrating it that are deeply rooted in Japanese culture. However, on Marine Day, especially due to its timing, when the rainy season has or is lifting in many parts of Japan and the real heat of summer is coming on, many people celebrate the holiday by going to a beach or a pool. Although it's important and healthy for us to get a moderate amount of sunlight, at the same time, the ultraviolet rays contained in sunlight can damage our skin and eyes. Whether it be on Marine Day or any other day, if you are going to spend a long time at the beach or outdoors, please take care to protect yourself from potentially damaging UV rays by wearing sunscreen, a hat, sunglasses, protective clothing, and so on! Passion for Innovation. Compassion for Patients.®

It goes without saying that regular health checkups lead to early detection of illness. However, since July 12th is "Ningen Dock Day” in Japan, which promotes awareness around the importance of receiving regular health checks, and as a company committed to improving quality of life around the world, we’d like to use this post to remind everyone anyway. 😊 “Ningen” means "person" in Japanese, and the “dock” part literally comes from the English word, dock, meaning a workshop for inspecting and repairing ships. Just like ships, which require regular inspections and repairs to maintain peak seaworthiness, it’s also important for people to regularly check our health! Ningen Dock Day in Japan was established on July 12, 1954, because the first organized health checkup in the country was carried out at the National Tokyo Daiichi Hospital (National Center for Global Health and Medicine) on that date. Health checkups are useful for prevention and early detection of a wide range of illnesses, some of which don’t show symptoms until the illness is already progressing. Why not use Ningen Dock Day as a reminder for you to schedule this year’s health checkup? #ningendockday #regularhealthchecks Passion for Innovation. Compassion for Patients.®

Congratulations to our colleagues at Daiichi Sankyo Europe GmbH for this very well-deserved honor in recognition of many years of hard work invested in making Daiichi Sankyo in Europe a great place to work.