Management Commitment
SHIONOGI Group’s Commitment to Realizing a Sustainable Society
“Contributing to a sustainable society” is an important theme that companies must fulfill responsibly alongside “sustainable growth.” In particular, regarding the environment, as a company that invests in natural capital, we are strongly aware of the need to minimize the negative impacts of our business activities, such as resource depletion, environmental pollution, and effects on nature. The SHIONOGI Group (“SHIONOGI”) has identified “Protect the environment” as one of its material issues (materiality) and is globally promoting responsible measures to address various environmental challenges, including climate change, the release of chemical substances into the environment during pharmaceutical manufacturing, resource conservation and recycling promotion, and biodiversity preservation—issues unique to pharmaceutical companies.
In FY2024, we have continuously addressed environmental challenges across the group, including the strict management of antimicrobial releases into the environment from each manufacturing site, including suppliers, to suppress the emergence of new antimicrobial resistance from manufacturing facilities, and the implementation of measures aimed at achieving the greenhouse gas reduction targets. As a result, we received the highest rating of A for “Climate Change” for 3 consecutive years and a high score of A− for “Water Security” from CDP*1. We are extremely honored to have received these evaluations.
Furthermore, from 2024, we have added “environmental management and governance” as an environmental materiality and are reinforcing the foundation to strategically and globally advance our environmental initiatives.
In FY2025, by welcoming new members through the company split (simple absorption-type split) of the pharmaceutical business of Japan Tobacco Inc. and the tender offer for Torii Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., SHIONOGI’s business sites will further expand domestically and internationally. In terms of the environment, we will urgently advance the integration of management and governance systems, including legal compliance and risk management, to further enhance the group’s overall management level.
SHIONOGI, as a unified group, will actively engage in reducing the increasing environmental impact associated with the expansion of business activities. We will enhance engagement with stakeholders by appropriately disclosing the specifics of our initiatives, aiming for transparency and collaboration. We are committed to fulfilling our social responsibilities to become a company that remains necessary and valued by society in the future.
SHIONOGI Group’s EHS Activities Toward Realizing a Sustainable Society
SHIONOGI has identified “Protect the environment” as one of its material issues (materiality) to reduce the negative impacts on customers and society. Furthermore, through the analysis of business characteristics and changes in the external environment, as well as dialogue with external stakeholders and related parties within the group, we identified five items—“AMR*2,” “climate change,” “resource conservation and circulation,” “water,” and “environmental management and governance”—as environmental materiality, which should be given higher priority among environmental issues, and have promoted activities to resolve these issues.
In FY2024, considering trends in requests for sustainability information disclosure and changes in the internal and external environment, such as Qpex Biopharma, Inc. becoming a subsidiary of Shionogi Inc., we have further developed our global management system through active communication with overseas group companies.
Regarding “AMR,” one of our environmental materialities, as a company handling antimicrobials, we have formulated a plan to obtain BSI*3 “Kitemark™ for Minimized Risk of AMR” certification, which guarantees that the manufacturing process of the active pharmaceutical ingredient and formulation of the new siderophore cephalosporin antimicrobial FETOROJA®/FETCROJA® (cefiderocol) complies with the antibiotic manufacturing standards of the AMR Industry Alliance, and we are steadily preparing to obtain approval in FY2025.
As business becomes increasingly global, stakeholder demands are expected to increase in quality and quantity. SHIONOGI believes that proactively promoting EHS*4 activities, including environmental initiatives, while broadly assessing internal and external circumstances is necessary.
We will continue to promote environmental initiatives in all SHIONOGI’s activities, including the supply chain, to reduce the negative impacts of our business and contribute to the realization of a sustainable society. Simultaneously, we will work to enhance information disclosure to strengthen engagement with stakeholders and ensure that we remain relevant in the future.
We appreciate your continued support.
*3 BSI: British Standards Institution, established in 1929 by Royal Charter, is the UK’s national standards body that provides globally recognized training, testing, and certification.
*4 EHS: Environment, Health, and Safety