Read the Conversation
Meeting highlights:
- Transition from the UK and Ireland to Italy: Joanne reflects on the unique challenges and opportunities of adapting to Italy’s distinct healthcare culture and language.
- Increased European Alignment: Italy’s healthcare sector is aligning more closely with European-standard processes in R&D and clinical trials.
- Strategic Role of Italy for Daiichi Sankyo: Joanne serves as an ambassador for Italy within Daiichi, highlighting Italy’s high investment value within Europe.
- Embracing a progressive shift, Daiichi Sankyo broadens its global impact by advancing from cardiovascular therapies into the innovative field of oncology.
- Demonstrating a strong commitment to a patient-centered approach, Daiichi Sankyo emphasizes initiatives extending beyond medication to foster a comprehensive and holistic model of healthcare.
- International Influence in Italian Healthcare: More foreign executives and cross-border roles are shaping Italy’s evolving healthcare market.
EF: When you moved from Ireland to Italy, what mission did you set yourself, and how has it advanced in your time in Italy?
JJ: Moving from the UK to the Irish market, I found more similarities than differences. However, Italy was a bigger challenge because of the language and cultural differences, which required a fresh approach. It was an exciting opportunity to start anew and understand the unique dynamics of the Italian market. The Italian market has many nuances you can only grasp by being there. Italy seems to be shifting toward a more European approach since we're seeing more foreign executives entering Italian roles and Italians taking on European roles. There's also growing alignment on HTA processes and trial approaches. It's an exciting time to be in Italy.
EF: How would you describe the strategic significance of Italy, and why is a euro invested in Italy better than it being invested somewhere else?
JJ: As the ambassador for Italy in our organization, I often clarify that I'm not Italian, which gives me a fresh perspective. Coming in from the outside, I can spot strengths and opportunities in the Italian market that locals may overlook. Italy is a very clinically driven market, with healthcare professionals deeply committed to patient outcomes, unlike some European markets that have shifted focus to peer influence. Internally, the Italian team is incredibly dedicated, hardworking, and committed to patient outcomes. Italy has become a compelling environment for pharmaceutical companies due to its dynamic market growth and focus on innovation.
EF: Could you tell us how the portfolio and the company are evolving into this key player in oncology?
JJ: As a company, we have existed for over a century and have a strong legacy in drug discovery. Our strong legacy remains at the core of our commitment to society. Our foundation in science and technology is a part of our DNA, and this focus has driven us to develop innovative medicines continuously. In 2023, we invested 22% of our revenue of €2.32 billion in R&D, and we hope to raise our commitment to €11 billion by 2026 to reinforce our dedication to innovation. Our 2030 vision is to become an innovative global healthcare company contributing to the sustainable development of society. A key strategy for this is advancing our three ADCs (antibody-drug conjugates), an oncology breakthrough offering a new approach to cancer treatment. Since 2010, we've focused on ADCs, and in the past three years, we've provided over 33,000 cancer patients in Europe with the hope of more time and an improved quality of life through these innovative treatments.
The success of our current products, like the direct oral anticoagulant and first-in-class lipid-lowering therapies, has fueled sustainable growth, allowing us to expand our ADC and R&D efforts. We aim to bring five ADCs to market by 2030, with over 30 indications, particularly addressing high unmet needs in cancer care. We are also broadening our pipeline beyond oncology to explore new therapeutic areas to ensure our innovation and development continue to meet diverse health challenges.
EF: In Italy, how are you working with scientific societies and patient associations to push the agenda and advance the industry?
JJ: No company or healthcare system can tackle these challenges alone. Collaboration becomes more straightforward and impactful by being patient-centric in everything we do. As a clinician, I've dedicated my career to finding ways to improve patients' lives and support them beyond treatment, working alongside other organizations to achieve this. We focus on raising awareness, empowering patients in their care journey, and investing in lifelong prevention, especially in aging populations like Italy and Japan. An aging population has complex chronic diseases requiring an adapted healthcare system, making health literacy and patient education essential. Informed patients are more engaged, adhere better to treatment, and develop stronger partnerships with healthcare providers.
Collaboration with healthcare stakeholders, decision-makers, specialists, or patient associations is crucial to improving the doctor-patient alliance. Recently, we took on some innovative awareness initiatives. For example, we organized a flash mob on World Heart Day on Rome's Via Del Corso with three floating cholesterol bubbles. These bubbles had people inside, and they were trying to get people's attention by getting in their way. Patient associations and the Italian Atherosclerosis Society were involved in this fun initiative, which shows the power of collaboration in raising awareness about cardiovascular health. There were free screenings for cardiovascular risk, and we distributed educational materials and diaries. We have also launched initiatives in our three Facebook communities for cardiovascular and cancer prevention, with experts available to give suggestions, insights, and useful tips and live Q&A sessions.
We also created heart health content for broader audiences, including a sitcom- on Amazon Prime to make health information accessible. For a more strategic perspective, our Future of Heart Health in Europe think tank brings together patient advocates, clinicians, researchers, policy experts, and even digital influencers to explore holistic healthcare solutions. Through these efforts, we aim to build a comprehensive approach to patient care that reaches people across all stages of health and awareness. One of the initiatives I’m most proud of is our Cardio Breast Dragon Boat Festival. It’s a wonderful event that combines our cardiovascular heritage with our oncology goals to benefit patients. This project brings together cardiovascular and oncology patient organizations, institutions, sports federations, and oncology patients in a friendly dragonboat competition. Dragon boat racing significantly improves recovery and outcomes for breast cancer patients, and the participants, called Pink Paddlers, race, celebrate in an award ceremony and share their stories. Seeing these women bond and support each other is incredibly moving, as they become like family. The impact of this festival on patient recovery is truly inspiring and gives hope to all.
We also offer free cardiovascular screenings on-site, not just for breast cancer patients but also for their caregivers, families, and anyone from the public. These screenings are a crucial part of our event, demonstrating our commitment to the health and well-being of our community. Held in seven cities across Italy, this event is something we’re passionate about and plan to continue. We’ve also created a platform that supports cancer patients and caregivers with essential resources. This includes a 27-chapter eBook, written by specialists, covering motherhood, family life, nutrition, pain management, and financial advice. We couldn’t do this without our close partnerships with patient associations, clinical advocates, and other stakeholders. We aim to make resources as accessible as possible, speaking clearly and focusing on what benefits patients the most. We want to ensure they can easily access the best from our treatments and feel fully supported throughout their journey.
EF: How do you drive your team forward and instill a culture of success and growth mindset in everyone in the company so they can push forward and keep driving these initiatives?
JJ: We strongly emphasize empowering people, as they are our greatest asset. To achieve our mission, we focus on maximizing the potential of our people across every area—production, sales, marketing, and communication. This is central to building our One DS (Daiichi Sankyo) culture, which values diverse talent, workforce planning, and talent management to ensure growth and sustainability. Our Japanese heritage inspires our journey toward global collaboration, and we’re creating behaviors around teamwork, trust, and effective operation, whether locally or globally. We encourage sharing both successes and failures because learning from failure drives innovation. In 2020, we launched our first global surveys to build an aspirational, unified culture. From these surveys, we identified our strengths and areas for improvement, and our leadership has worked hard to align our core behaviors.
Our key behaviors include collaboration, trust, development, and inclusivity. We welcome diversity not just in nationality, race, or gender but also in backgrounds, skills, and perspectives. This helps everyone reach their full potential and fosters mutual respect within our organization. We’re committed to these global surveys each year, aiming to improve continually and strengthen our culture of growth and learning.
One of our key organizational strengths is our ability to adapt to a highly competitive environment within the pharmaceutical industry and attract top talent as the workforce ages. To stay ahead, we need more than just strong fundamentals; we must actively retain and develop talent. Our talent management programs, central to this effort, demonstrate our commitment to our workforce. Through our global DS Academy, we nurture future leaders with international, European, and Italian initiatives. We review talent annually to support personal growth and ensure a sustainable future for our company.
This is my first experience working for a Japanese company after 30 years in the industry. Japanese companies like Daiichi Sankyo have a unique culture that strongly focuses on patients, science, technology, and innovation for societal good. They genuinely value their employees. It's common for employees in Japan to stay in one company for over 30 years. Combining this deeply rooted Japanese culture with Italy's relationship-driven values creates perfect harmony, as both cultures prioritize similar values, making collaboration easy and natural.
EF: When you have your end-of-year party with your employees, what achievement will you share with them from this year, something you are very proud of?
JJ: We follow the Japanese fiscal year, so our year ends in March, and we'll celebrate it with a glass of Prosecco. Since I joined Italy two years ago, we’ve made great strides in our oncology and cardiovascular businesses, becoming a key affiliate for our European and global operations. We’ve expanded our team, increased our revenue, and amplified our activities, and I’m proud of the strong foundation we’ve built for a sustainable future.
While we focus on our goals for this year, I also look three to five years ahead. In line with Japanese company culture, we are responsible for creating a healthy, sustainable future for our patients and employees by fostering innovations and opportunities. Our progress over the past two years has set us firmly on this path. In November, we’ll hold a company-wide meeting to celebrate our growth, where various global and R&D roles operate from Italy. I’m proud that we maintain a unified One Company culture, blending our Japanese heritage with a vision for globalization and modernization. It’s another reason to raise a toast at the end of this fiscal year!
