Eisai's Ranking Increases in the Access to Medicine Index 2014

TOKYO, Nov. 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Eisai Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, CEO: Haruo Naito, "Eisai") announced today that Eisai has been ranked 11th among the world's leading pharmaceutical companies in the Access to Medicine Index (ATM Index) 2014, representing a significant increase of four places from its previous ranking in 2012.

This Index is compiled by the Access to Medicine Foundation (the Foundation), an international non-profit organization dedicated to improving access to medicine for patients in need. Published by the Foundation every two years since 2008, the ATM Index independently evaluates companies' efforts to improve access to medicine in developing countries to rank the world's top 20 leading pharmaceutical companies on access to medicine issues.

Eisai performed above the Index average in the following five technical areas set by the Foundation: general access to medicine management; public policy and market influence; pricing, manufacturing, and distribution; patents and licensing; as well as product donations and philanthropic activities. In the research and development area, the Foundation specifically recognized Eisai's strong contribution to the research and development for a range of neglected tropical diseases, malaria and tuberculosis through product development partnerships.

In the ATM Index 2014 report, Eisai's commitment to eliminating lymphatic filariasis, a neglected tropical disease, by providing 2.2 billion diethylcarbamazine citrate (DEC) tablets to endemic countries in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) for seven years period starting from 2013, was also highly commended. In addition, the Foundation praised the implementation of equitable pricing strategies which includes both inter- and intra-country pricing tiers, and highlighted the co-founding of the Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund) with other Japanese pharmaceutical companies, the Japanese government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as a best practice.

Eisai is establishing proactive partnerships with governments, international organizations and other private sector companies to improve access to medicines worldwide under its human health care (hhc) philosophy. The Eisai Group is committed to developing and implementing long-term sustainable strategies that promote drug affordability, availability and adoption for greater access to medicine worldwide.

About Eisai Co., Ltd.

Eisai Co., Ltd. is a leading global research and development-based pharmaceutical company headquartered in Japan. We define our corporate mission as "giving first thought to patients and their families and to increasing the benefits health care provides," which we call our human health care (hhc) philosophy. With over 10,000 employees working across our global network of R&D facilities, manufacturing sites and marketing subsidiaries, we strive to realize our hhc philosophy by delivering innovative products in various therapeutic areas with high unmet medical needs, including oncology and neurology.

As a global pharmaceutical company, our mission extends to patients around the world through our investment and participation in partnership-based initiatives to improve access to medicines in developing and emerging countries.

For more information about Eisai Co., Ltd., please visit www.eisai.com.