Message from the COO

I am Toichi Takino and I was appointed President and COO in April 2024. ONO is now over 300 years old, and is continuing the long legacy built by our predecessors, and so at this juncture where we are poised to assume our place on the world stage, it is with a sense of determination that I assume the mantle of President. Being very fortunate to have had the opportunity to generate OPDIVO, a product that has become a representative of the industry, I am firmly committed to ensuring that this momentum translates into our next phase of growth.

While there is undoubtedly a focus on the impending expiration of OPDIVO’s patent, much attention is also being paid to the challenges of how we will generate future products and secure revenue streams. We are indeed urgently working to overcome these challenges, but taking a different perspective, the success of OPDIVO has also presented us with even more significant opportunities for growth. Based on the success of OPDIVO, we are creatively preparing and executing strategies for our next phase of growth, making this an incredibly rewarding and exciting period of time for our company.

We have now reached the midpoint of the 15-year medium- term management plan spearheaded by Chairman Sagara. At present, put simply this phase marks a stage in which we are transforming from a business model primarily focused on the domestic market and relying on overseas partnerships, to one centered on direct sales in the U.S. and Europe. In the past, we lacked the strength to take on such challenges, but now the Company has finally grown to the point where we can tackle this transformation of our business model.

Additionally, I believe that our delayed response compared to our competitors has actually turned out in some ways to be beneficial. In other words, observing the global expansion of other companies has increasingly highlighted the importance of having multiple product candidates, not just a single product, when entering international markets. We are taking this into account in our current efforts in expanding into the U.S. and Europe. That is, it is necessary to strengthen our secondary and tertiary strategies simultaneously, and I believe that the new three-executive structure fit perfectly with the advancement of these measures in parallel. At present, we are the stage of shifting to a structure to robustly promote our growth strategy of expanding our direct sales in the U.S. and Europe.

Our evaluation of Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, a U.S. biopharmaceutical company that we acquired in June 2024, was also because this enhanced our secondary and tertiary strategies. A major reason in this decision was that the acquisition was not just for a single product but also included a second product in the preparation phase for the application for its approval, as well as several early-stage drug candidates.

Our product candidates in global development include ONO- 4059 (VELEXBRU tablets), which is already marketed in Japan, and Itolizumab, for which we have obtained an option from Equillium in the U.S. While there is a slight gap in development stages between these drugs, we have around 10 projects in the early stages of development from our own drug discovery efforts. We are working tirelessly to compensate for this unbalanced pipeline with products and product candidates from Deciphera, while also leveraging to the fullest extent possible their drug discovery capabilities to accelerate our group’s research and development. Our aim is to bring to market (sell) as many of these candidates as quickly as possible, and by achieving multiple product launches in the U.S. and Europe, hope to make new drugs available to even more patients.

Among the four growth strategies we have set forth, based on my past experience I want to push forward the most are “Promoting Global Expansion” and “Pipeline Expansion.” In particular, I am doing everything I can to maximize the value of Deciphera Pharmaceuticals as a Group company. I believe that by effectively utilizing Deciphera, we can accelerate and strengthen our ongoing efforts in pipeline expansion.

Considering the vast throng of competitors, the past experiences of other companies shows us that expanding globally is no mean feat. However, there is no need for pessimism. Through OPDIVO, we have accumulated significant expertise in oncology, as well as know-how in open innovation and licensing arrangements with other companies. I believe we can establish our unique presence in global markets as well, by utilizing our unique perspective and relationship-building skills, and collaborating with venture companies and academia. Rather than feeling daunted, I am actually very excited about the prospect of tackling new areas.

Domestically, in recent years we have increasingly heard comments such as “ONO's business has an impact on society” and “Your company is growing,” giving us more opportunities to feel that we are contributing to patients. We hope that we can achieve similar name recognition in local markets as we work to expand our direct sales in the U.S. and Europe. It would be truly remarkable if the day comes when we are recognized as a company indispensable to society even overseas, through our generation of innovative drugs.

To make this vision a reality, we first need to realize our corporate philosophy, “Dedicated to the Fight against Disease and Pain,” in the United States and Europe. We would like to see a situation where, as a result of our global activities across all functions—R&D, manufacturing, quality, safety, medical, sales, supply chain, management, and governance—we are able to deliver new drugs or new treatment options to patients worldwide, from Japan and Asia to the U.S. and Europe, and get the real sense that we are having a meaningful impact. It would be ideal if such a situation could instill pride in our employees and their families.

Ultimately, what supports our growth strategy are each and every one of our employees, who represent the very essence of our company. This is reflected by the fact that, in recent years, “human capital” has become an important intangible asset. For us, pipeline enhancement and global expansion both rely on our people, and they are the ones who drive the Company forward. Therefore, we try to provide a solid corporate structure upon which every employee has opportunities to grow. Additionally, we must focus on fostering an organizational culture and environment that enables each employee who has grown to effectively demonstrate teamwork. In this sense, I would hope that our company embody the ancient Chinese saying, “The best plan for a lifetime is to cultivate people.^*”

Years ago, I traveled the world with Chairman Sagara in search of drug candidates with the aim of expanding our pipeline, a mission we accomplished thanks to both his leadership and support, and the collective effort of everyone in the company. These days, it is said that diversity is key to organizational strength. To me, diversity means harnessing the power of bottom-up approaches, as the era of top-down leadership has passed. This is because, in this day and age, it is increasingly important to be able to skillfully integrate specialized information from various fields. Given that we are now in an era where it is impossible to generate new drugs without gathering ideas and opinions from experts in various fields, I think that the leaders of today must listen to those who best know the field and technologies and ensure that they have the opportunity to excel.

Given that research and development tends to be inward-looking, we need to be conscious of this and make use of external wisdom. Both prostaglandins and OPDIVO were born from open innovation, and collaborating with external partners in R&D remains our greatest strength. I am confident that our company has the foundation to continue leveraging this strength to generate the next innovation or make breakthroughs. Looking forward, we would like to incorporate as many ideas as possible from those who know their respective fields best, and connect them to our drug discovery and business activities.

* The source is the ancient Chinese book “Guanzi.” The full text is “The best plan for a year is to plant grains; the best plan for ten years is to plant trees; the best plan for a lifetime is to cultivate people,” meaning that prioritizing human resources is the best way to plan for the future.

I always think that I would like to be able to communicate the appeal of ONO and its unseen efforts more effectively. The pharmaceutical industry is often described as a high-value-added industry, and I consider this is due to its high level of non-financial value. In other words, the know-how and abilities of individuals, which integrate diverse information, ideas, and knowledge at a high level, represents non-financial value, and it is the high level of these that contribute to the industry’s high added value. We would like to broadly communicate how our company accumulates such non-financial value so that people can further understand this.

And so that we can continue being a company deemed necessary by society, we must continue to provide new drugs. The road ahead therefor may not be easy, but I am confident that we can achieve this goal. We ask that all of our stakeholders continue watching over ONO’s challenges as we move toward a new stage, and in this we ask for your support.