EISAI RECEIVES THE TOKYO GOVERNOR PRIZE FOR CORPORATE GOVERNANCE OF THE YEAR® 2021
Eisai Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, CEO: Haruo Naito, “Eisai”) announced today that it was selected as the winner of the Tokyo Governor Prize for Corporate Governance of the Year® 2021, which is an award program organized by the Japan Association of Corporate Directors (JACD; Chairman: Yoshihiko Miyauchi). The award ceremony was held on January 31, 2022.
The awards have been established to recognize the companies which have achieved and maintained the medium to long term profitability by implementing good corporate governance, since 2015. Among the eligible companies for selection of the Corporate Governance of the Year 2021, the Tokyo Governor Prize goes to a company which has excellent corporate governance and also practices ESG activities such as environmental activities, women empowerment, initiatives for diversity and work style reforms.
Commenting on the reason for selecting Eisai, Mr. Eiichiro Kodama, Director General for Global Financial City Strategy, Office of the Governor for Policy Planning, Tokyo Metropolitan Government stated, “Eisai is a pioneer in incorporating its corporate philosophy into the Articles of Incorporation and practicing “Purpose Management.” With regard to corporate governance, Eisai makes the most of its status as a company with a nomination committee, etc., system to clearly separate management oversight and business execution, and places great importance to dialogue with its stakeholders including patients. In terms of ESG, Eisai is a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact and actively participates in climate change-related initiatives such as “RE100” and the Japan Climate Initiative. In addition, Eisai is taking on the challenge of quantifying values that do not appear on the balance sheet, such as investments in human capital, with attempting to select KPIs related ESG including the ratio of women in management positions, analyze its relationship with PBR (Price Book-value Ratio), and utilize the verification results for engagement with investors. Eisai is actively working to tell the story of the cause-and-effect relationship between the ESG initiatives and the enhancement of corporate value, thus taking on the extremely important challenge to visualize invisible value, embody the value of ESG, and disseminate them.”
Eisai defines its corporate mission as “giving first thought to patients and their families and to increasing the benefits health care provides” in the Articles of Incorporation, and shares it with its stakeholders. Eisai calls this philosophy the human health care (hhc) philosophy, in one word, and believes that practicing philosophical management based on the hhc philosophy will contribute to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and further enhance its corporate value.
Eisai is committed to further strengthening its corporate governance in order to realize the hhc philosophy.