Compliance

Basic Policy

An enterprise is required to promote the realization of a sustainable society through the creation of added value and employment that are useful to society and through autonomous and responsible actions based on fair and free competition. Following our corporate philosophy, the Kyorin Group conducts its activities in Japan and overseas based on a high standard of corporate ethics, in compliance with both the letter and the spirit of relevant laws, regulations, and international rules.

Corporate Charter and Compliance Guidelines

To ensure that the Kyorin Group’s activities are based on a high standard of corporate ethics, we set up the KYORIN Holdings Corporate Charter and Compliance Guidelines in August 2006, then revised them in April 2019 to reflect our commitment to a sustainable society. In addition, we have established a system promote compliance, including the Compliance Committee, which meets once a month.

• The KYORIN Holdings Corporate Charter was developed to specify matters of corporate ethics and compliance in accordance with our corporate philosophy, and serves as the starting point for our corporate activities.
• The Compliance Guidelines complement the KYORIN Holdings Corporate Charter by clarifying the standards to be followed for sound and proper business activities.
• The Compliance Committee was established to provide overall supervision of corporate ethics and compliance systems. Each Kyorin company has a compliance promotion manager who is responsible for the understanding and instilling of corporate ethics and compliance.

Education and Training

Internal training is held to ensure an understanding and familiarity with Kyorin’s corporate philosophy and compliance.

• Focusing on departments responsible for compliance and each division’s compliance promotion managers, Companywide level-specific training (newly hired employees, newly appointed managers, etc.) and functional training are held to teach corporate ethics and compliance, and efforts are made to ensure that an understanding and consideration of compliance are reflected in the work performed by directors, corporate auditors and officers, and employees.
• We have designated June and November “compliance enhancement months,” and are working to ensure that compliance is thoroughly understood and practiced throughout the Group by implementing initiatives specified for each department and employee.

Internal whistleblowing system

The Kyorin Group has established a “Corporate Ethics Hotline” to accept inquiries, consultations, and reports regarding corporate ethics and responses to laws and regulations, etc. The Group also accepts whistleblower reports of suspected injustice or non-compliance via internal and external points of contact. We strictly maintain the confidentiality of whistleblowers, respect their privacy, and ensure that they are not disadvantaged. (Number of reports: 14 in fiscal 2020)

Risk Management

Group companies have established the Risk Management Committee, which is held once a month to develop a management system that seeks to prevent the occurrence of risks and handle any risks that arise. The detail of these meetings are rebularly reported to the Management Committee. The Risk Management Committee oversees risk management initiatives across the entire Group, while also activities to be implemented as necessary at respective divisions to build a structure to identify potential risks, reduce risks, and prevent risk events from occurring, and to minimize the damage from risk events that do occur unavoidably. If a problem arises, it will be reported to the corporate officer in charge in a timely manner. In the event of a natural disaster or other risk that could significantly impact business, a Contingency Measures Headquarters, Headed by the president, will be established to manage the crisis.

Initiatives Related to Transparency in Relationships with Medical Institutions and Other Parties

The mission of a pharmaceutical company is to play an important role in patient-focused medical care, as a valuable entity that contributes to the health and well-being of people around the world by continuously developing and providing a stable supply of good quality medicines. To fulfill this mission, partnerships with pharmaceutical companies, research laboratories and medical institutions including universities and others are essential, and we are required to properly manage our relationships where there is a potential conflict of interest with pharmaceutical companies.

Under these circumstances, the Kyorin Group established the Guidelines for Transparency of Relationships between Corporate Activities and Medical Institutions, etc., and the Guidelines on Transparency of Relationships between Corporate Activities and Patient Groups. In accordance with these guidelines, we publish information about funding to medical institutions, patient groups, and others on our website.