Citeline was delighted to be able to recognize and celebrate excellence across the Japanese pharma, biotech and clinical research industries at the 3rd Citeline Japan Awards, held at the Palace Hotel in Tokyo on 22 October.
As potentially revolutionary new technologies and modalities such as AI and cell and gene therapy continue to gain ground in the global arena, seismic geopolitical events are also challenging how countries, and the companies within them, interact with each other.
The explosion of obesity as a huge global growth market, driven by effective new drugs, is also transforming the fortunes of patients, companies and even the countries where they are headquartered.
Against this wider background, the biopharma arena in Japan continues to be characterized by a multitude of issues, including continued pressures on reimbursement, healthcare cost controls, quality and supply issues and timely access to new drugs. Meanwhile, regulatory efforts to streamline the entry of effective new medicines stand to benefit patients, particularly those with rare disorders.
We would like to again express our deep and sincere thanks to the expanded panel of 14 distinguished independent judges, who gave so willingly of their expertise, time and effort, and also to our sponsors, who helped make the event possible.
The nine expanded Awards categories this year applauded the broader achievements of companies, along with deal-making, advances in R&D and personal accomplishments.
Personal Achievement
The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award (sponsored by ICON), decided by Citeline’s senior editorial team and which this year went to a recipient recognized for multiple important contributions in the research arena – Dr Yoshiyuki Ohsugi.
Currently chairman of the Tokyo-based drug development support and business planning consultancy, Ohsugi BioPharma Consulting, Ohsugi has more than 40 years of experience in R&D as a top scientist in drug discovery and is known globally for leading the team at Chugai Pharmaceuticals that worked on the discovery and development of the anti-interleukin-6 receptor antibody tocilizumab.
Within Chugai, our winner served as director of the First Institute for Drug Discovery in 1992, president of Chugai Molecular Medicine Laboratories in 1997 and Global Project Leader for Actemra in 2001. He continued working as a professional contractor after retirement in 2004.
He has also served as Specially Appointed Professor, Center for Innovation Research at Hitotsubashi University from 2011 to 2015 and has been a part-time lecturer at multiple universities including Nihon Pharmaceutical University. From 2010 to present he has served as a committee member and expert advisor to the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development.
Tocilizumab was jointly developed with Osaka University and a licensing deal with Chugai partner Roche was signed in 2003. The immunosuppressant drug was first approved in Japan in 2005 for the orphan indication of Castleman’s Disease and has since become available worldwide in more than 100 countries under the brand name Actemra, for a wide range of indications. It was also granted an Emergency Use Authorization for COVID-19 by the US FDA in June 2021.
Based on its wide approval and use, Actemra generated around $880m in overseas revenues for Chugai in calendar 2023.
Another highlight of the evening was the Pharma Company of the Year Award (sponsored by Syneos Health), which for 2024 went to Daiichi Sankyo. This category considered advances in multiple areas including R&D, new product launches, financial performance and licensing and partnering activity, and is the only other award decided by Citeline’s senior editorial team.
Daiichi Sankyo showed exceptional performance and progress across multiple aspects of its business and R&D activities, driven by a highly successful strategic pivot to oncology. This was led by impressive global growth for Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan), an antibody-drug conjugate mainly for breast cancer, for which global revenues grew 74% in the fiscal year ended 31 March 2024.
In the same fiscal year, total company revenue was up 25%, with core operating profit surging by 59%.
This performance and a positive future outlook was reflected in the company’s share price, which as of early September had risen by around 46% in the calendar year to date. Last fiscal year, basic earnings per share grew by 84%.
Also a major contributing factor to the decision to present this award to this company this year was a huge licensing deal with Merck & Co. last October for three ADCs, worth $4bn upfront and up to $22bn in total.
There are also extensive expansion plans for the company’s portfolio of commercialized and research-stage ADCs, with one in late-stage trials for first-line, HER2-positive breast cancer, for example.
In the other award for an individual person, Simone Thomsen was named Executive of the Year, in her role as president of Eli Lilly Japan KK. The Awards’ independent judging panel of external experts was impressed by the leadership and delivery of results by Thomsen, who joined Lilly in 2002 and was appointed to her current role in September 2019. She is also active in major US industry association PhRMA.
Accepting the award on Thomsen‘s behalf, Lilly Japan‘s associate VP for corporate affairs, Ritsuko Nomura, also noted Thomsen’s contributions to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
As well as Pharma Company of the Year, Daiichi Sankyo also picked up the Licensing Deal of the Year award, for its massive agreement with Merck & Co. in for three DXd ADCs in October 2023, worth up to $22bn. Our panel of judges was impressed not only by the size of this deal but also its promise of important new treatment options for serious diseases.
Turning to a category which recognizes innovation and the patient value of a specific individual product, the Best New Drug award went to Takeda’s Adzynma (ADAMTS13, recombinant-krhn), which became the first recombinant ADAMTS13 protein to be approved in Japan for the ultra-rare disorder congenital thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura in March 2024.
In accepting the award, the company noted the medical importance of the drug to what is a small patient population in Japan.
Company Categories
Moving to the Citeline Japan Awards categories recognizing the achievements of individual companies in various areas, the Biotech Company of the Year was won by Nxera, which rebranded from Sosei Group in April and has continued to strike multiple licensing and other deals and R&D partnerships while progressing its internal pipeline.
The Best Contract Research Organization award was won this time by CMIC, which was founded in 1992 as a pioneering Japan-based CRO and offers a broad range of solutions to support customers’ R&D activities. Judged considered the quality of services and relationships built with clients.
In a separate Award this year for Best Contract Development Manufacturing Organization, the panel of judges chose Elixirgen Scientific Japan as the winner. Elixirgen provides solutions linked to human induced pluripotent stem cells and partnered with Ricoh in Japan 2019, expanding its Japanese presence to the Shonan iPark biocluster in 2021.
Finally, the Financing Deal of the Year, introduced last year, is designed to recognize companies that were able to raise important new funding through initial public offerings or other forms of financing, in what continued to be a globally challenging environment.
Picking up its second award of the night was Nxera, which raised substantial new funding through the issuance of new shares and convertible bonds in an international offering.
Congratulations again to all the companies and individuals that were nominated and to the winners on the night, and also again to our panel of distinguished judges for their time and effort considering entries.
Keep an eye on Citeline’s social media channels for further pictures and videos from the event.
