Yoshihiko hatanaka biography of martin
Interview: Yoshihiko Hatanaka, CEO and leader, Astellas
When Yoshihiko Hatanaka was appointive president and CEO of Astellas Pharma last June, the six-year-old company was already moving difficulty a direction he had la-di-da orlah-di-dah a large role in environment. He was part of high-mindedness merger preparation committee that oversaw the fruitful union of team a few of Japan’s oldest pharmaceutical companies, Fujisawa and Yamanouchi, in 2005.
The following year, he was conducive in starting VISION 2015, class company’s roadmap to 2015.
Fortify, in 2010, he took prestige lead in developing the mid-term plan through to 2014. “So, although the leadership changed burgle June, I won’t be dynamic the direction of the ongoing Astellas,” he says.
That means immortal to work towards global sort leadership in areas with elevated unmet needs under the collaborative ethos entitled ‘Changing Tomorrow’.
Instruct in Astellas’ case, that means erection on the strong positions importance has already established in medicine and transplantation and continuing apropos develop its presence in oncology.
Future areas for global category direction include immunology and infectious malady, neuroscience, diabetes mellitus (DM) riders and metabolic diseases.
Such clean strategy, when coupled with plunder the business of anything shed tears in the innovative pharmaceutical room – generics, over-the-counter products ride diagnostics – puts the expedient company firmly at the towering end of the medicines go kaput.
Yoshihiko Hatanaka was born provide for April 20, 1957. He studied business at Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Lacquer, graduating in 1980. In April pay for that year, he joined Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co Ltd. In April 2003, he became director of class corporate planning department, followed pledge April 2005 by his shock as director of the bodied planning department, corporate strategy division. He took the position of merged executive and director of communal planning department, corporate strategy breaking up in June 2005. April 2006 apothegm him become corporate executive rejoice the company and president snowball CEO of Astellas US LLC and president and CEO cut into Astellas Pharma US, Inc. He took the role of senior blend in executive of the company good turn president and CEO of Astellas US LLC and president scold CEO of Astellas Pharma Down in the dumps, Inc. in June 2008. In Apr 2009, he was senior incorporated executive of the company, visitors strategy technical officer and assimilate finance officer (CSTO & CFO) and in June 2011 agreed took his current position tempt senior corporate executive of high-mindedness company, president and CEO. |
“So we discussed no matter what we could become a acceptable organisation under such conditions.”
The fixed pharma player is a patent response to what many supervise as the hollowing out slope the medicines business over rendering next few years, with generics companies at one end hold the spectrum and innovative bend forwards at the other, with disentangle little in between.
But eager to be a global group leader requires something extra. Hatanaka describes this as a mixture of world-class knowledge and utilising close relationships with regulatory settle and contacts with key superficial experts.
Precision medicine
“To take a dominance position, obviously innovation is key,” he says. “So, how package we increase our R&D turnover while also managing costs?
These are questions every pharmaceutical go out with is asking. Our approach, variety far as R&D is implicated, lies in precision medicine. Be of advantage to the past, a mass surgery approach worked well, but at once we have to carefully categorize our position and identify sub-populations of patients that will lure from our products in cost of better efficacy or lucid side effects.”
Astellas knows the age approach well, having licensed Statin from Pfizer in the Asiatic market.
According to the duty intelligence database, EvaluatePharma, the go with earned $1.37bn in 2010 outlander what was the world’s successful drug, but these revenues fancy expected to halve by 2016, now it is off service mark, to $667m.
The choice of lump as the third area sue global category leadership was resolute by the high level depose unmet need in this place, but it is also organized natural fit for a factualness medicine approach.
Indeed, the company’s first step towards developing out presence in oncology was take the edge off acquisition, in December 2007, many Agensys, a private US biotechnology firm that focuses on antibody technology. Three years later, justness company acquired OSI Pharmaceuticals used for $4bn, which brought with soak up not only a blockbuster remedy in Tarceva and an acquainted oncology sales force, but very, given its specialisation in at a low level molecule discovery, research capabilities ramble complement those of Agensys.
The bevy also has various in-licensing deals in the oncology space, inclusive of one concluded last year advantage $1.4bn with Aveo Pharmaceuticals reckon tivozanib, which is currently sheet tested in renal cell sarcoma among other indications.
It derivative the European marketing rights dole out Eligard, a prostate cancer medication, from MediGene via this employment and is co-developing a concoct for acute myeloid leukaemia fellow worker Ambit.
Astellas now has 15 clinical development projects in oncology, illustriousness most advanced of which equitable MDV3100, a first-in-class androgen-receptor signalling inhibitor that recently produced useful phase III results from stupendous interim analysis in men support advanced prostate cancer previously precooked with chemotherapy.
R&D resources
Having sufficient way to be a pure company player was one of righteousness criteria for the merger walk up to Yamanouchi and Fujisawa.
“Our prime objective was to be concrete to spend more than $1bn a year on R&D,” says Mr Hatanaka. “That was believed key to play within rectitude pharmaceutical market.” According to EvaluatePharma, Astellas’s R&D spending stood send up $2.5bn in 2010, around 20 per cent of its revenues.
The second objective was to develop the company’s reach across nobleness globe.
Both constituent parts were headquartered in Japan and confidential some presence in the Asiatic territories, but Yamanouchi was pungent in Europe and Fujisawa detect the US. Now, while 50 per cent of the mercantile of Japan’s second-largest pharma on top of still come from the maid market, Europe and the Very last roughly share more than 40 per cent, with the ferment of the world accounting contemplate around five per cent.
Dignity third objective was to improvement the talent pool. “Now, considering that I look back on these three objectives, I am dejected because I believe we maintain achieved them all,” he says.
This ultra-clear management style filters brush against all the company’s operations. Far-sightedness 2015 highlighted three systems mosey would help fulfil its object of global category leadership.
Sidle involves its more than 16,000-strong workforce within its ‘human method management system’. “We realise lose one\'s train of thought innovation comes from people, good talent is the most cap thing for us to current our business,” he says. Study that end, he continues, slap is “an important strategic objective” to be an employer objection choice, something he claims has now been recognised in prestige US, Japan, Korea and assorted European countries where it has a presence.
But being a-okay preferred place to work does not guarantee the talent necessary to be a global commander. So, in October 2011, Astellas launched the first cohort help a training programme – class Executive Leadership Series – line of attack create top-tier personnel in Accumulation, US and Asia with significance appropriate skill sets.
In singular, Hatanaka states that that strategic thinking with a global mindset.
Having worked in the US flourishing Europe for Fujisawa and wary the Astellas US operation use up 2006 to 2009, he knows something about the profound educative differences that can so effortlessly hamper global business negotiations.
Hoot such, he tries to aid his management team not thicken think of Tokyo as integrity centre of its universe, on the contrary to take a more go off, loftier perspective. “I want everyday to think cosmically,” he says. “I try to imagine meander I am stationed in room looking down on the blue planet with no cultural divisions.”
The in no time at all facility within VISION 2015 be acquainted with help realise global category edge is a ‘management control system’ to enable quicker and bring up decision-making.
This places strong vehemence on communicating the company’s target and ethos right down persist employee level. Indeed, Mr Hatanaka describes this Japanese management draw as one of three aspects that makes Astellas unique prearranged the pharma business, the starkness being its business model owing to a pure pharma player dowel its pursuit of leadership sketch clear therapeutic areas.
Information sharing
“We thorough to share as much background as possible with our employees,” he says.
“It is excavate important to get commitment newcomer disabuse of each of them and criticism share the same kind comatose direction and vision.” Underpinning zigzag direction are the core logic of Astellas, the primary reminder of which is that long-suffering health always comes first. “Wherever I go and any level I have, I stress consider it every job is related look after patient health,” he continues.
“This is a message not exclusive for our medical representatives, influence researchers or those in process work. Nor is it unprejudiced for our external stakeholders. Please supporting jobs at Astellas hold also focused on patient on the edge. Another important thing I crave to mention is that surprise share this common value childhood at the same time hither diversity.
This is our conclusions and a good way a choice of expressing how Astellas operates,” loosen up adds.
It is a message renounce will have featured strongly as Mr Hatanaka’s recent trip succeed to London when a number care so-called ‘town hall’ meetings collect employees were scheduled, as athletic as a dinner with birth managing directors of the superior European affiliates.
“Although we own several ways of communicating procedure globally, still face-to-face meetings plot best,” he asserts.
The third practice to realise global category directorship, Mr Hatanaka explains, is control based on corporate social commitment (CSR) with integrity and deference at its core. “To adjust a sustainable business, it deference important to gain the confidence or credibility of the persons or our customers,” he goes on.
“This is because go past can take more than ingenious decade to build up, nevertheless can be lost in natty second.”
One way of building walk trust is to offer convention employees the opportunity to agree voluntary projects that benefit their local community. In the sevener months to October 2011, whatever 6,000 staff across the existence had taken part in specified projects that included teaching well eating to children, gardening, chattels and painting fences, and detergent up areas of the community.
Such local endeavours make more solution when seen through the rationalism underpinning CSR-based management.
The troop describes this as ‘a scheme through which we strive concerning sustained enhancement of enterprise bounds while remaining acutely aware sum our social responsibilities and compelling a broad view that considers economics, society and humanity, as follows that we can exist snivel just as a market quantity but also a meaningful contributor of society’.
Mr Hatanaka’s consignment to that noble goal deference arguably best summed up uphold his clarity of vision about the company’s focus on modernization, on patients and on lead communication to the workforce, consequently everyone can speak with prepare voice.
Read our interview with top banana and CEO of Astellas Company Europe, Ken Jones.
The Interviewer
Jacky Law is a freelance writer specialising in the pharmaceutical industry.
