Medical Science

Sumitomo Pharma's Medical Information Department and Medical Affairs Department work in coordination as the Company's Medical Science framework, with the same Executive Officer responsible for both departments. Their objective is to strengthen our capability to accurately grasp the needs of healthcare professionals, patients and their families and to execute medical communication and provision of medical information to address those needs in a scientifically objective, unbiased, reliable, and evidence-based manner.
The value of pharmaceutical products is increased by additional product information and post-marketing information. For unmet medical needs in diseases for which effective therapies are yet to be found and other issues, we generate evidence that will fulfill such needs for both healthcare professionals and patients and provide it to healthcare professionals. The evidence data generated is one of the appropriate criteria for treatment options and has benefits for both healthcare professionals and patients.
Through the provision of high quality medical and scientific information concerning our products to healthcare professionals, Medical Affairs Department strives to maximize product value and promote proper use. In addition, our Medical Science Liaisons (MSLs) work to grasp unmet medical needs through interactive scientific communication with healthcare professionals, which will lead to new evidence generation, additional dosage forms, and additional indications. MSLs also serve as contact persons for clinical and non-clinical research and provide medical information based on advanced scientific knowledge in response to requests from healthcare professionals.

In Fiscal 2021, we engaged in activities to generate new evidence in the psychiatry and neurology and diabetes areas. By presenting the evidence at society meetings and submitting it for publication to journals, we have been providing this information to healthcare professionals. Going forward, we plan to post information on company websites directed at healthcare professionals.

Medical Information Department produces materials for the proper use of our pharmaceutical products to healthcare professionals, by creating such information on our products and supporting the provision of such information to healthcare professionals by Medical Representatives (MRs).
We also provide documents such as "Kusuri-no-shiori," (drug information sheets) and "Instructional Leaflets" describing how to take medicines and specific symptoms of possible adverse reactions, which are used by healthcare professionals in explaining to patients. In addition, the "Instructional Leaflets" use illustrations so that the elderly and child patients can easily understand their explanations.
In order to be able to offer 24-hour support for regional healthcare, we will utilize our websites and other methods, and continue to provide and communicate easy-to-understand information to patients and their families, while addressing the on-site needs of medical institutions.

The efficacy of pharmaceutical products will be manifested when they are used based on product information concerning efficacy and safety. We believe that the prompt and accurate provision of product information will raise the value of our products for our customers. In addition to making information available on websites, we utilize a unique product information search system (DI-SaGaS) to respond to inquiries from healthcare professionals to our MRs and the Product Information Center.

As there is a growing demand for pharmaceutical safety information, we will continue to review and enhance the content of our system to make sure that it meets their needs. We will also strive to provide information that is more trustworthy and leads to even greater customer satisfaction.

We established the Product Information Center within our Medical Information Department as a customer support contact center for inquiries about our products from patients, their families in addition to healthcare professionals. Going forward, we will continue to contribute to the health of patients by swiftly and politely providing accurate information on proper use of pharmaceuticals, while analyzing the customer's voice by responding to inquiries and providing feedback on the results internally, visualizing trends in patient opinions, and strengthening our role to improve our products and information materials.

Total number of inquiries in fiscal 2021 (April 1, 2021 - March 31, 2022): Around 34,000

Click here (Promoting Communication with Stakeholders under Fair and Transparent Corporate Activities) for more details on the Product Information Center including total numbers of inquiries received.

As a research and development-oriented pharmaceutical company with a global presence, Sumitomo Pharma aims to continuously create innovative, effective medicines in areas with high unmet medical needs. Through the provision of high quality information on our products created in our Medical Science framework, we will make efforts to further enhance our contribution to healthcare professionals and the health of patients.