Eisai Co., Ltd. Annual Report 2001 - Eisai GmbH

8
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Eisai’s R&D mission is to respond to unmet medical needs thus
fulfilling customer satisfaction objectives. In achieving this mission,
we strive to promote efficient R&D and bring breakthrough
prescription drugs to market as quickly as possible. Accordingly, we
are concentrating our focus on specific therapeutic areas and are
striving to maximize results by capitalizing on advanced technologies in
these areas. The success of our drug development efforts owes much
to the excellence of our research team leaders and our ability to
achieve independent regulatory approval. These team leaders inspire
Eisai researchers worldwide to challenge new frontiers in their ongoing
drive to develop drugs that contribute to greater customer satisfaction.
Concentrated Focus on Strategic Therapeutic Areas
Eisai continues to achieve important results by concentrating resources
in three strategic therapeutic areas: neurology and gastroenterology—
in which we have already established a strong presence—and oncology.
The pursuit of focused R&D in these areas enables us to undertake
crucial themes and projects at each stage of the drug discovery and
development process and concurrently promotes an efficient
allocation of resources. This approach also allows us to effectively
incorporate cutting-edge information and medical advances at all
stages, from exploratory research through clinical research.
R&D in the area of central nervous system disorders is based at
the Tsukuba Research Laboratories, near Tokyo, and the Eisai London
Research Laboratories, in the United Kingdom. The researchers in
these facilities cooperate closely. At the same time, both laboratories
focus on drug discovery research that capitalizes on its particular
strengths. These efforts have contributed to the discovery of such
important investigational drugs as E2007, a treatment in for multiple
sclerosis. Other substances currently under development include the
serotonin receptor antagonist E2101, a centrally acting muscle relaxant,
Eisai Annual Report 2001