Our History Museum

The founder, Gisaburo Shiono, learned wholesale trade under the guidance of Kichibei, his father, who ran a drug wholesale business. On March 17, 1878—Gisaburo’s 24th birthday—he launched his own drug wholesaler, Shiono Gisaburo Shoten, in Doshomachi 3-chome 12, Osaka. This was the beginning of the present-day Shionogi & Co., Ltd.

Reliability and trust are necessary qualities for effective management. From its founding, Shiono Gisaburo Shoten also regarded these qualities as its most valuable “capital.” The corporate logo of Shionogi is derived from “FUNDOH,” a stylized image of a balance weight historically used to dispense products. FUNDOH also symbolizes “accuracy,” “honesty” and “trust” and represents precision and commitment to quality.

Thanks to the diffusion of health information, vitamin compounds previously used as therapeutic drugs began to see frequent use as health promotion agents, offering benefits such as recovery from fatigue and improvement of physical health. At the time, such vitamin compounds were one of Shionogi’s most important products, in terms of both sales and profit. Shionogi launched Popon-S, a multivitamin supplement in 1953. The current Popon brand products have undergone several improvements since that time.
The name “Popon-S” combines “Popon” a lively onomatopoeia meaning “extraordinary vigorous vitality and eagerness,” and “S” for “Shionogi.”

Sinomin, the first sulfonamide antibiotic drug discovered and developed by Shionogi, was launched in 1959. Two years later, Sinomin began to be marketed all over the world, based on its highly appreciated, superior efficacy. In consideration for the scope of the potential global sales growth of antibiotics-related products, Shionogi constructed a plant for manufacturing antibiotics. Additionally, Shionogi had developed a close relationship with US-based Eli Lilly and Company, one of the overseas pharmaceutical partners that Shionogi had been importing drugs. In 1952, Shionogi obtained exclusive manufacturing and marketing right for Ilotycin, a new antibiotic discovered by Eli Lilly and Company. Subsequently, cephalosporin antibiotics were successively introduced into the market, all of which greatly increased Shionogi’s sales: Keflin in 1966, Keflodin in 1967, and Keflex in 1979.

Partnership with Eli Lilly and Company significantly benefitted Shionogi’s research and manufacturing capabilities in addition to its sales. In 1961, a basic research facility, Shionogi Research Laboratories (now integrated into Shionogi Pharmaceutical Research Center) was established to conduct antibiotics research. In 1982, this research resulted in the successful discovery and launch of an in-house product: Shiomarin, the world's first oxacephem antibiotic. Flumarin and Flomox were then launched in 1988 and 1997, respectively, earning Shionogi the title “Shionogi, specialists in antibiotics,” and the high level of its fundamental research was highly praised in academic world.

In the 2nd Medium-Term Business Plan, implemented in 2005, royalty revenue gained from Crestor was invested it intensively into research and development of three priority areas: infectious diseases, pain and metabolic syndrome.
At the same time, Isao Teshirogi, President and CEO, who succeeded Motozo Shiono, ex-President in April 2008, acquired US-based Sciele Pharma, Inc. in order to streamline overseas sales foothold for products discovered in-house. Consequently, Shionogi was able to build a self-sales network in the US, the largest pharmaceutical market in the world.
In the domestic market, strategic products such as Crestor were launched one after another, and Shionogi focused on new products and shifted from acute disease treatment drugs such as antibiotics to drugs treating chronic diseases.

In April 2014, the 3rd Medium-Term Business Plan was brought to an end one year early, and we formulated its New Medium-Term Business Plan “Shionogi Growth Strategy 2020 (SGS2020).” This decision, among others (including the establishment of new business scheme with ViiV Healthcare for the HIV integrase inhibitor franchise products, announced in October 2012, and modification of the Crestor royalty structure with AstraZeneca, announced in December 2013) was made in an effort to adapt to rapid changes in the external business environment, which required us to revise the business targets set by the 3rd Medium-Term Business Plans.
In the New Medium-Term Business Plan, our vision includes the goal to “grow as a drug discovery–based pharmaceutical company.” The plan sets return on equity (ROE) as one of the management indicators, specifies business targets to be achieved in the next three years, and intends to update results and progress toward overcoming the remaining challenges to achieving its financial targets for FY2020 each year on a rolling basis. By undertaking these efforts, we are determined to conduct business in a way that is flexible enough to adapt to rapid changes in the external business environment, as well as to propel further growth by focusing on drug discovery and research to create innovative medicines.