Business Units
The Sumitomo Pharma Group contributes not only to patient care but also to improving the quality of life (QOL) for patients and their families by continually creating diverse solutions, primarily innovative pharmaceutical products through its value chain.
Sumitomo Pharma’s value chain
Sumitomo’s value chain, including R&D, production/quality control, sales/marketing, regulatory compliance & quality assurance, medical affairs, as well as M&A and alliance.
- *Cashpoint: We sell pharmaceutical products to wholesalers, delivering the products to medical institutions and health insurance pharmacies through wholesalers which are then prescribed to patients. The method for determining the official prices for ethical pharmaceuticals (drug prices) varies according to the country.
Value Delivered to Society
- 1.By continually creating solutions, primarily in the form of innovative pharmaceuticals, we contribute to improving not just the treatments received by patients but also the QOL (quality of life) of patients and their families.
- 2.In addition to ensuring a stable supply of high-quality pharmaceuticals, we provide healthcare professionals as well as patients and their families with appropriate information to ensure the correct understanding of the proper use of our pharmaceutical products and the diseases they are indicated for.
- 3.We contribute to scientific advancement and pave the way to new possibilities in preventive as well as curative healthcare, by elucidating disease mechanisms and realizing new modalities such as regenerative medicine/cell therapy, through our research and development activities.
Research
With Psychiatry & Neurology and Oncology as priority disease areas, we will pursue the discovery of innovative new drug candidate compounds, utilizing diverse modalities including small molecules and regenerative medicine/cell therapy.
- Basic research (1–3 years): Discover and create new candidate substances that can approach specific targets with clear relevance to clinical conditions.
- Non-clinical studies (3–5 years): Research the pharmacological effects, safety and pharmacokinetics of new drug candidate compounds using laboratory animals and cultured cells.
- Make extensive use of cutting-edge technologies that have been developed by ourselves or obtained from academia or biotech companies.
Clinical Development
Under our global development organization, we aim to obtain early approval through a compact development strategy that progressively increases the probability of success.
- Clinical studies (3–7 years): Clinical studies for obtaining approval are divided into three phases and are conducted in clinical sites such as hospitals with the enrollment of healthy volunteers and patients after obtaining their informed consent.
- Design products and develop processes to make products that are easy to use.
- Submit applications for approval to regulatory authorities in each country
Production and Quality Control
We provide a stable supply of products under strict quality controls.
- Consistently produce high quality products under our global supply chain system that covers procurement of raw materials through distribution under strict quality controls.
- Provide medical institutions and dispensing pharmacies all over Japan with products.
Sales and Marketing
We focus on Japan and the U.S., implementing activities suited to each region.
- Through an information provision system capable of adapting to market changes, provide healthcare professionals with information on proper use of products.
Corporate Regulatory Compliance & Quality Assurance
We assure the quality of our products and information at a global level, from the development stage through to post-marketing stage.
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Established a quality assurance and audit system that
delivers global “A-N-SHI-N*.”
- * A-N-SHI-N: Trustworthiness, reliability, peace of mind, making people feel reassured and safe.
- Conduct integrated management of safety information, including adverse reactions, from the development stage (clinical studies) to the post-marketing stage and engage in proactive safety measures and provision of information.
Medical Affairs
Create, provide, and disseminate high-level information that is based on robust scientific evidence and that meets medical needs.
- Build up and disseminate evidence to satisfy unmet medical needs.
M&A and Alliance
Aiming to make effective use of our portfolio, we are promoting collaboration and licensing with partners, while also promoting alliances with outside research institutions.
- Promote collaboration with partners in priority disease areas.
- Enter into research alliances with research institutions that include universities in Japan and overseas, as well as biotech companies with innovative technologies.
- Engage in an open innovation activity called PRISM through which we call for original ideas and conduct joint research to match our drug discovery research needs.
Environment / Social Contributions
Environment
We are aware of its responsibility for its own environmental impact and are working to reduce environmental impact across all business activities.
Social Contributions
In addition to our business activities, we are working to solve social issues through collaboration with local communities and societies.
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Pharmaceutical Business
Research
We direct our research efforts to two priority disease areas (Psychiatry & Neurology and Oncology) and other areas.
- Basic research (2–3 years): Discover and create new compounds that will be the starting point for medicines.
- Non-clinical studies (3–5 years): Examine the pharmacological activity and toxicity of candidate compounds for medicines using animals and cultured cells
- Make extensive use of cutting-edge technologies that have been developed by ourselves or obtained from academia or biotech companies.
Clinical Development
Leveraging our global development organization, we aim to secure early regulatory approvals by forming strategic clinical development plans and conducting clinical developments efficiently.
- Clinical studies (3–7 years): Clinical studies for obtaining approval are divided into three phases and are conducted in clinical sites such as hospitals with the enrollment of healthy volunteers and patients after obtaining their informed consent.
- Design products and develop processes to make products that are easy to use.
- Submit new drug applications to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare for approval.
Production and Quality Control
We use strict quality controls to ensure the stable supply of our products.
- Consistently produce high quality products under our global supply chain system that covers procurement of raw materials through to distribution under strict quality controls.
- Provide medical institutions and dispensing pharmacies all over Japan with products.
Regulatory Compliance & Quality Assurance
We assure the quality of our products and product information at a global level throughout the lifecycle of our products, from the development stage through to post-marketing stage.
- Established a quality assurance and audit system that delivers global “A-N-SHI-N* .”
- Conduct integrated management of safety information, including adverse reactions, from the development stage (clinical studies) to the postmarketing stage and engage in proactive safety measures and provision of information.
- * A-N-SHI-N: Trustworthiness, reliability, peace of mind, making people feel reassured and safe.
Medical Affairs
We create, provide, and disseminate information of high standard that is based on robust scientific evidence and meets medical needs.
- Build up and disseminate evidence to satisfy unmet medical needs.
Sales and Marketing
We provide healthcare professionals with information on the proper use of our pharmaceutical products, by building an information system which caters to changes in the market environment.
- Through an information provision system capable of adapting to market changes, provide healthcare professionals with information on proper use of products.
M&A and Alliance
In the interest of expanding our development pipeline, we are proactively pursuing opportunities for M&A, in-licensing, and alliance making, while also promoting alliances with external research institutions.
- Actively promote strategic investment in acquisitions and in-licensing
- Consider a broad range of assets and alliances in our focus areas for in-licensing, with a priority on late-stage development assets and approved products.
- Enter into research alliances with research institutions that include universities in Japan and overseas, as well as biotech companies with innovative technologies.
Contribution to Societies
We play our part in tackling social issues by listening to the requests and wishes of our stakeholders, and reflecting them in our business operations as well as CSR activities.
Environment
We recognize the responsibility we bear for our own environmental impact, and we are working to reduce our environmental impact across all business activities.