ASTELLAS PHARMA

Astellas Pharma Inc. is a Japan-based pharmaceutical company that operates its business in more than 70 countries around the world. It has approximately 16,000 employees, and its core products include anticancer agents like XTANDI, XOSPATA, and PADCEV; Betanis / Myrbetriq / BETMIGA for the treatment of overactive bladder (OAB); and Prograf, an immunosuppressant for organ transplantation. In its FY2019 financial results, revenue achieved about 1,300 billion yen (ca.$12 billion*), and R&D expenses... were about 220 billion yen (ca.$1.9 billion*). Astellas' competitiveness comes from its own innovativeness in R&D and extensive network featuring cutting-edge technology garnered through proactive collaborations with academia, bio-ventures, and pharmaceutical companies worldwide. Its R&D activities are managed and promoted by functional centers in the U.S., Japan, and Asia, which enhance agility and efficiency of projects through parallel developments globally. Astellas established the “Focus Area Approach” as its R&D strategy. This approach focuses on building sustainable and expandable drug discovery by selecting the best combination of biology, modality/technology, and disease. The company has identified four prioritized research areas, Blindness & Regeneration, Mitochondria Biology, Genetic Regulation, Immuno-Oncology, named “Primary Focus” where it focuses its resource to strategically expand its pipeline. One of the Astellas’ key focuses that support the strategy is collaborations with academic labs and various pharmaceutical companies, including start-ups. Dedicated teams have been assigned to maximize the value of respective collaborations. These include Astellas Innovation Management, which promotes intaking early-stage innovations, Business Development, which identifies opportunities for inward/outward transactions and executes deals and manages subsequent alliances, and Astellas Venture Management, a corporate venture capital that makes private equity investments in early-stage biotech start-ups in an attempt to potentially reinforce Astellas’ pipeline. In drug discovery activities, the R&D pipeline programs have been reinforced by incorporating external cutting-edge science. In recent years in particular, advanced technologies in areas such as cell therapy and genetic regulation have been added to Astellas’ capabilities. Astellas has also been successful in M&As, including Audentes Therapeutics, Xyphos Biosciences, Nanna Therapeutics, Universal Cells, Ocata Therapeutics, and Mitobridge for unique scientific features. Astellas has demonstrated a strong footprint in late-stage clinical trials and commercialization of its strategic products. In the past three years, it successfully launched three new products (XOSPATA, Evrenzo and PADCEV) and expanded indications of XTANDI worldwide by realizing excellent management of each clinical trial program. Astellas also achieved annual sales of 754.5 billion yen (ca.$6.9 billion*) with XTANDI, Betanis / Myrbetriq / BETMIGA, and Prograf in FY2019 with a strong focus on delivering value through improving patient access and outcomes in the associated therapy areas. Another remarkable approach that Astellas is taking is creating new healthcare solutions beyond medicine based on the existing expertise and knowledge in its Rx business, combined with adjacent technologies from partners. Astellas values research outcomes from all partners and is willing to realize untapped value thereof by collaborating with a partner and maximizing the value of assets by using Astellas’ capability (e.g., funding, facilities, human resources, and know-how). Openness and flexibility in designing alliance mechanisms (e.g. tailored joint study programs and financial arrangements) will help the parties to realize executing a deal in a timely manner. Astellas is committed to creating medical solutions in order to turn innovative science into value for patients and incorporating capabilities of partners. *The exchange rate for the yen, 1USD: 109yenMore