Digital Transformation
Digital Vision & Digital Transformation Strategy
We have launched Digital Vision 2023, which aims for transformation through digital technology to realize our management philosophy and vision. To this end, we are continuously creating new digital-value by achieving operational excellence and reinforcing our digital transformation infrastructure.
Digital Vision 2030
By 2030, as a global specialty pharmaceutical company with originality, Kyowa Kirin aims to discover unmet medical needs by utilizing data to provide new services and value, including pharmaceutical products. In addition, we accumulate data obtained and created both internally and externally in a series of processes from drug discovery, production, distribution, and sales to medical professionals and patients, forming a unique data platform that is organically connected and utilized as a source for creating new value. Furthermore, we will move beyond the creation of innovative drugs to contribute broadly to maintaining and enhancing health as a member of a “team” centered on medical professionals and patients, while co-creating with various stakeholders around the data platform.
Three Pillars of the Digital Strategy
We are pursuing digital transformation activities by setting strategic goals in line with the Three Pillars of the Digital Strategy aimed at realizing our digital vision.
- 1. Digital for Operation – Achieving Operational Excellence
- In support of optimizing operations at the front lines of business, we are successively building an ICT Platform that accumulates data across the globe. Development of this ICT Platform pursues a system that adapts to our business model and realizes operational excellence by combining elements that are best suited to particular operations in accordance with business characteristics, functions, and the operational characteristics of different regions under the concept of “Best of Breed,” which is based on active co-creation with outside entities and cloud-first.
In addition, to support new working styles in the new normal of today, we will create a secure, connected environment that enables employees to work anytime, anywhere. We will accelerate productivity gains through this digital shift in our operations. - 2. Digital for Innovation – Transformation to a Circular Value Chain of Data
- We will establish a circular value chain of data that maximizes the value of existing drugs and creates life-changing new drugs. This will work by circulating various data assets accumulated within the Company through business activities across divisions within the Group. In the future, we aim to create new solutions beyond providing pharmaceuticals, through collaboration with various stakeholders and through the use of various types of real-world data from outside the Company.
- 3. Foundation for Digital – Reinforcing Our Digital Transformation Infrastructure
- Under Digital Vision 2030, with a focus on personnel and data, we will steadily advance efforts to reinforce digital talent and build a platform for data use across divisions within the Group in order to reinforce the infrastructure for promoting digital transformation.
In order to acquire and reinforce the digital talent who will support our transformation to a circular value chain of data, Kyowa Kirin will develop digital project planners, data scientists, data stewards, and other talent with the ability to lead each division and sector. At the same time, we will raise the general quality of the Company through digital literacy education targeting all employees in an approach to developing digital talent that is both “top-down” and “bottom-up.”
In addition, as the entire Kyowa Kirin Group aims to realize an “environment that enables everyone to readily and securely utilize data,” we will lay out standards and rules that define our vision regarding data and the specific requirements for regulations, roles, and data management.
On top of this, we will promote collaboration with external partners that possess unique technologies, and build robust digitalization promotion infrastructure that contributes to value creation that is unique to Kyowa Kirin.
Promotion System and Governance
Digital Transformation Promotion Conference
We have established the Digital Transformation Promotion Conference as a forum for energizing digital transformation promotion activities throughout the Company. At the same time, we select Digital Promotion Leads from business divisions to promote digital transformation activities.
The Digital Transformation Promotion Conference consists of three main functions.
- (1)New digital transformation technology/service creation
- Information sharing on new technologies/services such as metaverse and PHR
- (2)Digital transformation case study sharing
- Sharing digital initiatives for each business division
- (3)Group-wide digital transformation initiative orientation, promotion
- Select cross-departmental themes; establish working groups; report, share, solve issues
- Formulate various KPIs such as digital personnel training plans
- Group data management regulations promotion/adherence
Specific Initiatives
Digital for Operation – Achieving Operational Excellence
Specific Initiative Example 1 – Building globally optimized ICT infrastructure
As we advance our initiatives to realize global operational excellence for each function, we are making progress in developing optimized ICT digital infrastructure across the Company in line with the three establishment principles of Enterprise Platform for pursuing more sophisticated global management, Functional Platform for addressing requirements unique to the pharmaceutical business, and Regional Platform for supporting strategies unique to regions and operations.
Digital for operation – Achieving Operational Excellence
Specific Initiative Example 2 – Advancing secure infrastructure platforms that accelerate flexible work styles
With the spread of remote work, we are pursuing the goals of promoting a cloud-based infrastructure and ensuring secure access to enable employees to work flexibly from anywhere. We have put into place an environment that allows for seamless collaboration across the globe by already completely eliminating the on-premise environment for our internal information sharing infrastructure and portal and by completely migrating to cloud services. As far as new work styles under a Group-wide hybrid work policy are concerned, we realized an environment that allows employees to work from anywhere at any time by expanding online conference tools and shifting from email- to chat-centric communication. From a security standpoint, we are implementing measures to reduce security incidents and strengthen our response capabilities, including multiple defenses, prevention of infection in advance, and faster speedy detection.
Digital for Innovation – Transformation to a Circular Value Chain of Data
Specific Initiative Example 1 – R&D
- Accelerate data-digital driven drug discovery through wet and dry matrix collaboration Strengthen data science capabilities through collaboration with InveniAI (AI-powered drug repositioning) and on-the-job training of KKC scientists at the InveniAI Lab
- Activities to achieve operational excellence and shorten the duration of research processes through data science and digital technologies Improved decision-making by using data and information assets Data-driven drug discovery theme proposals with high probability of success
- Distributed Clinical Trials (DCTs) and the use of digital technology to increase clinical trial feasibility Implementation of eConsent (electronic informed consent) and use of Real World Data (RWD)
Digital for Innovation – Transformation to a Circular Value Chain of Data
Specific Initiative Example 2 – Sales Japan
In order to bring our products to as many patients as possible, we need to be chosen by our customers. To this end, we undertake the following activities with the aim of maximizing value provided to customers and optimal contact points.
- Strengthen basic skills: Create an autonomous learning environment by linking self-learning and sales skills management systems
- Data infrastructure development: Establish an input/output environment for internal information like activity and sales results, and external information like market data, as well as an environment for utilization in areas such as BI
- Optimization of contact points: Analyze information acquired and consider mechanisms to support the best approach to customers
Digital for Innovation – Transformation to a Circular Value Chain of Data
Specific Initiative Example 3 – Commercial NA region
In North America, to further the goal of patient centricity we provide comprehensive patient care services in collaboration with heath care professionals, medical institutions, and payers, we are building a digital patient support platform that aims to extend care to our patients throughout their treatment Journey. This is one of the initiatives to realize Kyowa Kirin's vision of bringing smiles to patients and people facing diseases by providing life-changing value through digital technology.
Foundation for Digital – Reinforcing Our Digital Transformation Infrastructure
Specific Initiative Example - Create human and data infrastructure to support transformation
We are reinforcing our digital infrastructure in order to create human and data infrastructure to support transformation.
The Kyowa Kirin Group focuses on measures centered on data utilization.
- Group Data Management Rules and Standards
- The Kyowa Kirin Group has realized an environment that enables everyone to readily and securely utilize data by resolving issues involving data through data management activities across organizations.
- Data Management Rules
- We have defined general policies and standards for data management activities, with the aim of providing new value through the use of data.
- Digital Personnel Training
- Define talent profile and implement training programs mainly for digital project planners, data scientists, data stewards
- Training personnel to use data to solve problems at each business division
- Data Systems
- We are building a system to support master data management on a global basis in order to support the utilization of diverse data beyond organizational boundaries and data governance activities to manage utilized data as assets.
Under the Digital Vision 2030, we are focusing on people and data to strengthen the foundation for promoting digital transformation, and are making steady progress in developing digital human resources across departments and creating a data utilization infrastructure.
