Performance by Technical Area

Has a strong access-to-medicine strategy with executive-level responsibility. Eisai is one of 14 companies that performs strongly with regards to its access-to-medicine strategy which includes access-related goals, and aligns with its corporate strategies. The strategy is focused on long-term sustainable solutions, that explicitly views young emerging markets as opportunities for long-term investments. The highest level of responsibility for access sits with an executive manager.

Financial and non-financial access-related incentives to reward employees. Eisai performs strongly in encouraging employees to work towards access-related objectives. It is one of 14 companies to have both financial and non-financial incentives in place to motivate employees to perform on access-related issues. These incentives include bonuses rewarding performance and non-financial awards. 

One of 16 companies working on impact measurement. Eisai measures and monitors progress and outcomes of access-to-medicine activities. It also publicly reports on commitments, objectives, and targets. For example, for its partnership with WHO on eliminating lymphatic filariasis, the company reports committing to provide 2.2 billion tablets free of charge to WHO by 2020. Furthermore, it is part of the Access Accelerated initiative, which includes a commitment to evaluate impact. 

Some transparency about stakeholder engagement approach. Eisai publicly discloses which stakeholder groups it engages with on access issues, but does not publicly share its process for selecting who to engage with. Neither does it report incorporating local stakeholder perspectives into the development of access strategies. However, Eisai publicly shares a specific policy for ensuring responsible engagement — in order to deal with stakeholders in a responsible way, with respect and trust and which includes a no tolerance policy for bribery or corrupt behaviour. 

Has measures to ensure third-party compliance with ethical marketing and anti-corruption standards. Eisai has a code of conduct and policy relating to ethical marketing and anti-corruption, and provides regular compliance training for employees. The company provides evidence of formal processes in place to ensure compliance with standards by third parties. Sales agents' rewards are not solely based on sales targets, but rather on the uptake of patient screening and treatment.

Internal control framework meets some Index criteria. Eisai's internal control framework to ensure compliance meets some of the criteria looked for by the Index. Namely, it has an auditing and review mechanism in place, and performs ad hoc evaluations that also apply to third parties. It reports that it regularly conducts fraud-specific risk assessments. It also has procedures to segregate duties, so that decisions are checked by another party. It does not, however, demonstrate evidence of a monitoring system in place to track compliance in the workplace. 

Below average transparency regarding access-related practices. Eisai publicly discloses its policy positions on access-related topics (e.g., its position on intellectual property). It does not disclose political contributions in countries in scope. Eisai publicly discloses its membership of relevant organisations for access, but not its financial contributions. The company also discloses its policies for responsible engagement within its code of conduct. It does not, however, publicly disclose its policy approach to payments made to healthcare professionals in countries in scope.

Publicly commits to R&D to meet public health needs. Eisai has publicly committed to R&D for diseases and countries in scope. Its R&D strategy for low- and middle-income countries is informed by an evidence-based public health rationale by following external targets including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Further, it has time-bound strategies for completing R&D projects conducted in partnership for diseases in scope and evaluates progress toward these targets. Eisai has a mid-sized pipeline in the Index, with 41 projects. For diseases in scope where priorities exist, Eisai is active in 19 projects; 17 of these target priority R&D gaps.

Access provisions in place for 30% (3/10) of late-stage candidates. Eisai has a clear process in place to develop access plans during R&D. The process considers some R&D projects for diseases in scope, namely projects for neglected tropical diseases. In general, Eisai develops access plans for R&D projects for neglected tropical diseases in early-stage development but does not have such clear timelines for other diseases. To date, Eisai has project-specific access provisions in place for three of its late-stage R&D projects. All three are being conducted in partnership with the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi). The Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT) is also involved in one of the projects.

Policy to ensure post-trial access; commits to registering trialed products. Eisai has a policy for ensuring post-trial access to treatments for clinical trial participants. However, this policy is not publicly available. The policy is aligned with the standards set in the Declaration of Helsinki. Eisai commits to registering newly approved products in all countries where clinical trials for these products have taken place.