Author Archives: otsukapharma

Posted on November 15, 2024 - 12:00 AM by

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Factory and ICU Medical Announce the Establishment of Joint Venture

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Factory America, Inc. (Head office：Schaumburg, Illinois; President and Representative Director: Shuichi Takagi; “OPFA”), the US subsidiary of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Factory, Inc. (Head office: Naruto, Tokushima; President and Representative Director: Shuichi Takagi; “OPF”), and ICU Medical, Inc. (Head office: San Clemente, CA; Chairman of the Board and CEO : Vivek Jain; “ICU Medical”) have agreed to the capital participation of OPFA in the IV solution company newly established by the joint venture between Otsuka Pharmaceutical Factory and ICU Medical. The agreement was signed in Japan November 12, 2024.
ICU Medical is involved in the development, manufacture and sale of innovative medical products in infusion therapy, vascular access and vital care applications, and has one of the largest manufacturing plants of basic IV solutions in North America. ICU Medical will transfer its IV solution business to the newly established company. The new company will begin operations in early Q2 2025. OPFA will obtain 60% shares of the new company, which will then become a subsidiary of OPFA, inaugurating OPFA’s foray into the North American IV solution business.
The North American IV solution market is one of the world’s largest and is growing annually. Currently, the US is experiencing a temporary shortage of IV solutions caused by Hurricane Helene. The formation of the new joint venture company, which combines Japan’s largest IV solution manufacturer OPF and ICU Medical, a major North American comprehensive IV solutions corporation, will not only help strengthen and stabilize the IV solution supply chain in North America, but will also accelerate the technological innovation of IV solution products.
OPF will strive to consistently provide safe and high-quality IV solution products that will contribute to the health of people in North America and worldwide. Based on the corporate philosophy “Otsuka-people creating new products for better health worldwide”, OPF will continue to contribute to the health of people around the world by actively pursuing global business expansion.

Comments from company representatives:

Vivek Jain, Chairman of the Board and CEO, ICU Medical, Inc.
“Otsuka’s scale, experience with U.S. partnerships, and demonstrated long-term investment horizon made them the ideal partner. Their financial strength and dedication to portfolio expansion will provide the stability and choice the North American market needs. Through this joint venture, we’re committed to delivering clinical and economic value for ICU Medical stakeholders and giving this critical product category the innovation and attention it deserves.”

Shuichi Takagi, President and Representative Director, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Factory, Inc.
“Entering the North American market has always been part of our long-term ambition and this joint venture with ICU Medical is the perfect way to accomplish that. It will allow us to bring our products based on innovative technologies to a market with an established customer base.”

To know more, click of the below link:

https://www.otsukakj.jp/en/news_release/20241113_1.pdf

 

Posted on August 24, 2023 - 9:45 AM by

The Japan Sport Council (an independent administrative agency; Head office: Tokyo, Japan; President: Satoshi Ashidate; hereafter JSC) and Otsuka Holdings Co., Ltd. (Head office: Tokyo, Japan; President: Tatsuo Higuchi; hereafter Otsuka HD) have announced the August 2023 start of TCRP NEXT*1, a collaborative project for continued research into conditioning to enhance sustainable international competitiveness (high performance) in sports. Results of the ongoing research will be applied not only to boosting international competitiveness, but also to activities to raise awareness for enhanced life performance for members of the public at large.

The TCRP NEXT project will be managed by the JSC High Performance Sports Center (hereafter HPSC) and Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (hereafter Otsuka Pharmaceutical). The new project will use Total Conditioning Guidelines for Athletes, compiled from results of the JSC High Performance Sports Center Total Conditioning Research Project, a joint industry, government, and academic research project aiming to promote sports medicine and boost Japan’s international competitiveness launched in December 2016. Knowledge developed for the new conditioning concept of “total conditioning” will be applied to achieve the following three objectives.

（1）Engage in conditioning-related research to enhance sustainable international competitiveness in sports.

（2）Apply results of research to public awareness activities in the realm of life performance (targeting the general population and members of the public at large).

（3）Consider updating the Guidelines as needed.

Objectives of TCRP NEXT

  • The Japan Sport Council (an independent administrative agency) and Otsuka Holdings Co., Ltd. have launched TCRP NEXT, a new collaborative project.
  • The project will publish Total Conditioning Guidelines for Athletes, based on results of research to date, providing an overview and information regarding the new “total conditioning” concept advocated by HPSC (publication scheduled for August 10, 2023).
  • The project will continue research into ways to boost sustainable international competitiveness in sports, with a focus on “total conditioning.
  • Information developed through various ongoing research projects will be used to maintain and promote public health, encouraging the transition from high performance to life performance.

    •  

     

     

     

     

Posted on July 27, 2023 - 9:50 AM by

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Otsuka) finalized a collaborative agreement with Tokushima Prefecture (Governor: Masazumi Gotoda) on July 27, aiming to contribute to realization of a sustainable society through promotion of horizontal “bottle-to-bottle*1” recycling of PET bottles. Working together with 12 participating municipal entities, Tokushima Prefecture aims to develop and promote “bottle-to-bottle” recycling initiatives.

July 27 signing ceremony at Tokushima Prefectural Government Office
(From left: Tokushima Prefecture Governor, Masazumi Gotoda;
Otsuka Pharmaceutical Tokushima Branch Office Manager, Ken Hosokawa)
  • Tokushima Prefecture’s First Agreement to Promote PET Bottle Resource Circulation through Horizontal Recycling Initiatives

Cooperative undertakings between Otsuka and local municipal entities, well-received by Tokushima Prefecture, facilitated the new agreement. By broadly promoting stable “bottle-to-bottle” resource circulation (horizontal recycling) of used PET bottles in Tokushima Prefecture, the agreement aims to reduce the volume of waste and promote efficient use of resources, contributing to the realization of a more sustainable society. Initiatives to promote public awareness and participation in resource circulation will include informative bottle-to-bottle posters and videos produced in cooperation with Tokushima Prefecture.

  • Promotion of Bottle-to-Bottle Initiatives in Cooperation with Municipal Entities in Tokushima Prefecture
Image of bottle-to-bottle recycling scheme

In advance of the agreement with Tokushima Prefecture, Otsuka concluded collaborative agreements for promotion of PET bottle resource circulation with municipal entities representing four cities and seven towns*2 in Tokushima, with the participation of Shikoku Godo Tsuun K.K. (Head office: Tokushima Prefecture; President: Rumi Sato) and Toyota Tsusho Corporation (Head office: Nagoya, Japan; President: Ichiro Kashitani).

Including the cooperative agreement finalized with Naruto City*3 in February 2023, Otsuka is now promoting bottle-to-bottle recycling with 12 local authorities, accounting for half of the municipal entities in Tokushima Prefecture.

Under the new agreement, the municipal entities will collaborate with government and corporate partners to collect used PET bottles, with collected bottles transported by Shikoku Godo Tsuun to Toyota Tsusho recycling facilities. Toyota Tsusho will process recycled bottles into high-quality PET material and Otsuka will use this material in production of PET bottles. The PET material will be used by Otsuka group companies and other beverage manufacturers. Through promotion of resource circulation in Tokushima Prefecture, the birthplace of the Otsuka group of companies, Otsuka aims to contribute to realization of a sustainable recycling society.

Concerned about limiting use of petroleum-based materials and promoting resource circulation, the soft drink industry*5 is working to develop horizontal bottle-to-bottle recycling, in which used PET bottles are reproduced as PET bottles for re-use. In the past, PET bottles discarded by households were recycled as food packaging trays, textiles, and other items, while PET bottles that did not meet the quality requirements for recycling were incinerated.

In recent years, technological innovations have made it possible to create high quality recycled PET resin*6 from used PET bottles, leading to expansion of horizontal bottle-to-bottle recycling initiatives.

With this technology, semi-permanent recycling of PET bottles is becoming a possibility, leading to reductions in consumption of petroleum-based resources and decreased CO2 emissions, which are expected to reduce the overall environmental impact of business activities.

Defining a Circular Economy as one of the material issues to be addressed by environmental policies, the Otsuka group has established the 2050 Environmental Vision, “Net Zero*7. The Otsuka Group Plastic Policy*8 was formulated with the aim of developing packaging suited for a sustainable society. In collaboration with stakeholders, Otsuka group companies are engaged in an extensive range of environmental initiatives.

In addition to “bottle-to-bottle” initiatives, Otsuka is adopting PET bottles made using 30% recycled PET resin, developing lighter packaging, reducing the volume of product packaging materials, offering label-free PET bottles and pursuing other environmentally conscious policies.

Striving to be an essential company that contributes to the health of people and the environment, Otsuka will continue to face challenges with innovation and creativity, aiming to realize a future society in which people and the earth can coexist in harmony.

  1. ※1    An ideal circular recycling system in which material from recycled PET bottles is used for production of PET bottles.
  2. ※2    Local towns and cities in order of finalization of agreement: Tsurugi, Awa, Kamiita, Itano, Naka, Higashimiyoshi, Miyoshi, Ishii, Kamiyama, Anan, Mima
  3. ※3    Otsuka has finalized a collaborative agreement with Naruto City and Toyota Tsusho aiming to contribute to realization of a sustainable society through promotion of horizontal
    recycling of PET bottles.
  4. ※4    Use of sustainable materials
  5. ※5    Reference: Japan Soft Drink Associationhttp://www.j-sda.or.jp/about-jsda/english.php
  6. ※6    PET resin produced from collected PET bottles by material recycling processes
  7. ※7    Otsuka Holdings Sustainability, Environment:https://www.otsuka.com/en/csr/environment/
  8. ※8    Otsuka Group Plastic Policy:https://www.otsuka.com/en/csr/environment/plastic.html

Posted on April 28, 2023 - 11:58 AM by

Otsuka Holdings Co., Ltd. (Head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan; President and Representative Director, CEO: Tatsuo Higuchi) has been recognized for leadership in corporate transparency and performance on climate change by global environmental non-profit CDP(*1), securing a place on its annual ‘A List’ for a second consecutive year. Otsuka also received an A- listing for water security, placing it at leadership level in the category.

Under its 2050 Environmental Vision, “Net Zero,” the Otsuka group is committed to reducing the total environmental impact of its business activities to zero. Based on this vision, we have determined carbon neutrality, and water neutrality as the part of the material issues in our environmental initiatives. In terms of carbon neutrality, group-wide collaboration is focused on meeting the group medium-term target of reducing CO2 emissions by 50% by 2028 compared to 2017, utilizing renewable energy by introducing solar power generation facilities and CO2 free electricity, improving energy use efficiency by introducing cogeneration systems(*2), and pursuing fuel conversion and other measures globally. In terms of water neutrality, we have conducted water risk assessment at the group’s all production sites worldwide in the aim of sustainable water use.

CDP is a global non-profit that runs the world’s environmental disclosure system for companies, cities, states and regions. The organization collects, analyzes, and evaluates information on the environmental activities of the world’s leading companies, and annually selects the best in terms of climate change initiatives and information disclosure for its climate change A List. In 2023, CDP scored more than 23,000 companies and selected 346 companies for its climate change A List.

The Otsuka group will continue to help build a decarbonized and sustainable world through the application of new technologies and solutions.