Contributing to sustainable social development through business activities

Gyo Sagara
Representative Director, Chairman of the Board & CEO

Since its establishment in 1717, ONO has devoted itself solely to the pharmaceutical industry under the corporate philosophy "Dedicated to the Fight against Disease and Pain." In order to contribute to society by developing pharmaceutical products that truly benefit patients, we continue to tackle diseases that remain unconquered as yet and address areas with high healthcare needs where patients are poorly satisfied with current treatments.

In March 2022, we formulated a sustainable management policy, and will continue to take on the challenge of realizing a sustainable society by contributing to people’s health through the research and development of pharmaceuticals, preserving a rich global environment for future generations, realizing a society where people can play active roles, and establishing highly transparent and robust management.

In FY2022, we continued to conduct our business activities amidst the novel coronavirus pandemic, and in order to fulfill our mission as a pharmaceutical company, we have taken measures to prevent infection and reduce the burden on medical sites, while working to ensure a stable supply of pharmaceuticals. As a pharmaceutical company, we are also aware of the importance of improving access to healthcare, and are promoting initiatives such as research and development on pharmaceuticals for rare diseases, intractable diseases, and pediatric patients, for which medical needs have not yet been fulfilled.

In recent years, the issue of global warming, including extreme weather events, is becoming increasingly serious, and countermeasures to address climate change is one of the critical challenges facing the international community. We believe that it is important to be fully aware of our corporate social responsibility to the environment, and to consider the environment in all aspects of our business activities so that we can play our part in preserving a rich global environment. Based on this belief, in June 2019 we formulated the medium- to long-term environmental vision "ECO VISION 2050," pledging to become a leading company in the area of environmental challenges in the pharmaceutical industry by 2050. To achieve "ECO VISION 2050," we determined three priority items, namely the "Realization of a decarbonized society," "Realization of a water recycling society," and "Realization of a resource recycling society," and set specific medium- to long-term reduction goals for greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and waste amounts. In March 2023, we reviewed our targets to accelerate our efforts, and have set a new medium- to long-term environmental goal of achieving carbon neutrality (net zero emissions by offsetting carbon offsets) for our own emissions (Scope 1+2) by 2025, and moving up the target year for achieving zero emissions from 2050 to 2035. In October 2019, we expressed our support for the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), and have since worked to appropriately disclose information based on the TCFD recommendations. In June 2020, we participated in "RE100," an international initiative aimed at enabling companies to use 100% of the electricity used in their businesses from renewable energy. Participating in "RE100" is an important step toward achieving the goal of "ECO VISION 2050," and we will further strengthen our efforts to procure and expand the use of renewable energy.

With regard to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations, we have set three development goals as our top goals and are collaborating with parties both within and outside of our company to promote activities that will help us achieve them. Namely, those goals are “GOAL 3: Good Health and Well-being,” “GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure,” and “GOAL 17: Partnerships for the Goals.”

Under the corporate philosophy "Dedicated to the Fight against Disease and Pain," we will continue being passionate challengers. We sincerely ask for your continued support.