EISAI RECEIVES THE PRESIDENT’S AWARD OF THE JAPAN TECHNO-ECONOMICS SOCIETY AT THE 8TH TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT AND INNOVATION AWARDS
FOR ITS CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARDS PATIENTS WITH LIVER DISEASE THROUGH THE EISAI-ORIGINATED ORALLY AVAILABLE KINASE INHIBITOR LENVIMA®
Eisai Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, CEO: Haruo Naito, “Eisai”) announced today that it received the President’s Award at the 8th Technology Management and Innovation Awards held by the Japan Techno-Economics Society (JATES)*. The award was presented to Eisai for its discovery of the orally available kinase inhibitor LENVIMA®(generic name: lenvatinib mesylate) and its contributions towards patients with liver disease.
The Technology Management and Innovation Awards was established in 2012 with the aim of contributing to the development of Japan’s economy, social transformation, and global competitiveness by introducing a wide range of outstanding innovations originating in Japan. This year marks the 8th anniversary of the award.
This award symbolizes high evaluation for Eisai’s creation of the new treatment LENVIMA in Japan, the expedition of contributions towards patients through its strategic collaboration with Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., U.S.A. (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada) to globally co-develop and co-promote LENVIMA, and Eisai’s efforts to support patients with liver disease based on its corporate philosophy.
LENVIMA was discovered at Eisai’s Tsukuba Research Laboratories. It is an orally administered multiple receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) inhibitor that selectively inhibits the kinase activities of proangiogenic pathway-related RTKs. Eisai obtained approval of manufacturing and marketing in Japan for LENVIMA indicated for the treatment of unresectable thyroid cancer in March 2015. In March 2018, LENVIMA received its first approval worldwide with additional indication for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Japan. LENVIMA thus became the first systemic therapy to be approved in Japan for front-line treatment of HCC in approximately 10 years. Eisai has also established its own liver disease support site** to realize contributions to patients that cannot be achieved with drugs alone. The support site aims to help patients with hepatitis, cirrhosis, and liver cancer to resolve the anxiety they face in treatment and recuperation, as well as to foster a positive mindset towards treatment and an active lifestyle.
Eisai positions oncology as a key franchise area and aims to create innovative drugs that act towards healing cancer. In addition to innovation in drug development based on cutting-edge cancer research, Eisai aims to build an oncology ecosystem including prediction and prevention of cancer. Eisai will make continuous efforts to meet the diversified needs of, and increase the benefits provided to patients with cancer, their families, and healthcare professionals.
* Institute founded in October 1966 to research technology, management, and economics and facilitate exchange among sectors thereof, to promote industrial activities (Japanese only): http://www.jates.or.jp/
** Eisai’s Liver Disease Support Site (Japanese only): https://patients.eisai.jp/kanshikkan-support/
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