Basic principle
Guided by the Corporate Philosophy “Helping People Lead Healthier, Happier Lives,” all divisions of Nippon Shinyaku, including the R&D Division, unite to improve access to medical treatment. With the aim of pursuing originality endlessly and creating unique products, every Nippon Shinyaku employee is committed to promoting R&D in frontier fields that no other companies have explored yet, establishing a system for a stable and prompt supply of high-quality pharmaceutical products, and appropriately providing medical professionals with information.
Nippon Shinyaku has formulated the Nippon Shinyaku Group Code of Practice to always remain highly ethical and transparent in all its activities and thereby deserve public trust.
Related Initiatives
Development of pharmaceutical products for rare diseases
It is said that there are currently more than 7,000 intractable and rare diseases for which effective treatments have not been established and that many people suffer from them. Nippon Shinyaku has been a pioneer in R&D focusing on these intractable and rare diseases and has promoted product life-cycle management (PLCM) aimed at increasing the value of products, the in-licensing of products of other companies, and open innovation activities. We will also consider utilizing data from clinical trials we have so far conducted to apply for manufacturing and marketing approval in countries where approval is likely to be obtained.
Improvement of access to pharmaceutical products in consideration of specific regional circumstances
When executing our intellectual property rights in order to provide necessary pharmaceutical products, we take into account the specific circumstances of each country, including applicable regulations.
We will also consider selling our products at prices that are appropriate in light of the medical system, the insurance system, national living standards, and other factors in each country.
Establishment of a favorable medical environment
Disease awareness-raising and patient support programs
Clinical trials are conducted in a limited number of countries for a limited period of time, with the participation of a limited number of patients. Therefore, to help patients only with a very limited choice of medical treatments, we have been implementing programs for providing our pharmaceutical products in countries where those products are not yet approved. We also offer information about diseases and treatments to not only specialists in specific fields but also non-specialist medical professionals. We work to enhance cooperation between specialist and non-specialist medical professionals with the aim of offering patients smoother access to specialist treatments. We also run a disease awareness-raising website and a website that provides information on medical institutions, both of which are intended for patients, as well as providing patient support programs.
Awarding research grants
As part of the project to celebrate the centenary of its founding, Nippon Shinyaku launched the Nippon Shinyaku Research Grant program to contribute to scientific advancement in the medical and pharmaceutical fields in which the Company operates. This program aims to support young researchers by calling for research projects and awarding grants to eligible applicants.
Disease Awareness-Raising Activities
Website-based awareness-raising activities
Nippon Shinyaku promotes disease awareness and provides information through its websites with the aim of improving patients’ QOL through early consultation, early diagnosis, and early treatment and of helping diagnosed patients deepen their understanding of their disease.
The website “Pulmonary Hypertension Medical Care Support,” opened in 2017, provides information that helps viewers deepen their understanding about pulmonary hypertension (PH): what is it like, how it is treated, medical expenses, related public services, and video messages from specialist physicians. In addition, in order to draw attention to pulmonary hypertension associated with scleroderma, which is often overlooked among pulmonary hypertension, we opened a website titled “Do You Know the Complications of Scleroderma? – Shortness of Breath and PH (Japanese Only)” in 2020. Through the website, we provide information on symptoms, tests, and treatments related to scleroderma and pulmonary hypertension, which occurs with it.
Moreover, in the field of pediatric neurology, we launched the specialized information site for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) “Learn about DMD (Japanese Only)” in 2021 and the website “With Dravet Syndrome (Japanese Only)” in 2022. These sites provide information such as disease knowledge, treatment, and support for daily life to families with children with DMD and Dravet syndrome, which are designated incurable diseases.
We also operate websites such as the following:
- “Learn about Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) (Japanese Only),” which explains MDS, one of the blood diseases, and its classification, prognosis, diagnosis, and treatment
- “Alcoholism Treatment Navigation,” which explains alcoholism and shows testimonials by those who have successfully overcome alcoholism
- “Tell Me: Painful Periods,”which recommends early medical consultations for endometriosis and dysmenorrhea
- “ED Care Support,” which provides information intended to dispel commonly held myths about ED (Erectile Dysfunction) and ease psychological resistance to seeking medical attention and also warns against fake ED treatment medicines with related information
- “Learn about Prostate Diseases – Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia, Prostatitis, and Prostate Cancer (Japanese Only),” which summarizes information on diseases related to the prostate
- “Lean about Urolithiasis (Japanese Only),” which explains urolithiasis, a disease whose main complaint is pain and which often recurs
Participation in “Rare Disease Day”
On the occasion of “Rare Disease Day,” which is internationally observed on the last day of February each year, Nippon Shinyaku carries out activities aimed at deepening general understanding about rare and intractable diseases.
Each year, we focus on one rare disease and hold interviews with physicians specializing in the disease or panel discussions with specialists and students. These events are often covered in newspapers.
Open seminars
We also hold public lectures on various areas of health problems, which provide easy-to-understand explanations by specialists about disease prevention and treatment. For patient support activities, we plan to continue holding online public lectures and exchange events on pulmonary hypertension and muscular dystrophy.
Media seminars
Nippon Shinyaku organizes study meetings for media representatives wherein specialists and opinion leaders well versed in selected subjects discuss the latest news from the pharmaceutical or healthcare fields and transmit otherwise complex specialized information. These study meetings facilitate journalists to write stories on medical topics with more accurate and detailed information, thus better informing the general public in turn.
