Governance

We have therefore continued to strengthen our governance structure and management system through the appointment of independent external directors and the establishment of cooperation between the Audit Committee, the external auditor and the Internal Audit Department to support the strategic management and oversight functions of our Board of Directors.

At the same time, we have strived to increase the integrity and transparency of our management governance structure by maintaining accountability to and communication with all stakeholders, including shareholders, employees, business partners, customers, creditors, consumers and local communities.

We have adopted a governance structure comprising the Nomination Committee, Audit Committee and Compensation Committee as stipulated by the Companies Act of Japan in order to strengthen our Board of Directors’ oversight, increase transparency and speed up the decision-making of management, among other reasons. Under this structure, we have separated the oversight function and business execution function of management and have largely delegated business decision-making authorities to our Executive Officers. We believe this structure supports our focus to increase management oversight and efficiencies and our governance principles are set out in our Corporate Governance Guidelines.

Our Scientific Advisory Board consists of leading scientific experts from the pharmaceutical industry and academia, who ensure management decisions are based on scientific expertise. Our significant investment decisions are made by our Board of Directors based on recommendations made by our Investment Committee. 

Lastly, our ESG Committee was formed in 2022 with the mandate to make recommendations to our Board of Directors and oversee our overall ESG strategy, policies and practices.