It is not easy to acquire communication skills
but it is still acquired through experience.

Moderator My name is Yoshida from Kyowa Kirin.
I will be facilitating this exchange meeting.
Participants who wish to ask questions will take turns and Mr. Toyoizumi from our company will answer your questions.
The first one, please.

In your student lecture, you mentioned that communication skills are very important.
In Day 1 of the First Stage of the seminar, various people pointed out the importance of communication skills.
Is it the ability to make small talk?
Is it the ability to speak plainly, or the ability to get along with people whose way of thinking does not match your own?

ToyoizumiThe ability to make small talk, the ability to communicate in a straightforward manner, and the ability to communicate well with people you may not like are all important.
This is because, as I always feel when I am working, there is no way to carry out work without talking, whether you are carrying out some work within the company or with people outside the company.
Depending on the type of work, I may deal with people only within the company, or I may talk with patients, doctors, or other people outside the company.
Even if the people you deal with change in this way, I think communication is very important in the work process.
For example, in communication, it is not enough to just be able to make small talk, but comprehensive communication skills are necessary.
In that sense, it is not easy to improve communication skills.
I like talking to people, and I don't think I dislike or dislike meeting new people very much.
However, many people around me say that the hurdle to talking to strangers is very high and that they do not know what to say.
I think it is experience that changes that.
To begin with, I used to be not very good at public speaking, and when I joined the company, I was very nervous every time I gave a presentation at a lecture like today's, as well as speaking with medical professionals.
In fact, I am still nervous today.
Even when I do, if it doesn't seem that way externally, I think it is because of the accumulation of experience I have gained over the dozen years I have worked here.
Therefore, even if you think you are not good at something, you should try it first.
Through repetition, I believe that your communication skills will gradually improve.

StudentSo you are saying that the first thing to do is to just try talking.

ToyoizumiThat 's right. As a student, you have many opportunities to communicate with a limited number of people around you, such as students and teachers, but I think that talking to me for the first time at a meeting like this is an experience.
So I think it would be a good idea for you to participate more and more in such social gatherings.

Moderator: Thank you for your questions.
I would like to encourage you to take on the challenge of communicating with a variety of people.
I am also in the Corporate Communications Department, and we are not all good communicators.
However, some of them are good listeners.
I sometimes feel that they are eloquent even if they don't have many words.
I think it is important to challenge yourself, so please try your best.

Whether in discussions at work or with patients
Understanding the other person's point of view and preparing what to say are necessary

ModeratorIf you have any other questions about communication in the workplace, please answer them.

StudentYou mentioned in your lecture that coordination skills are also important in the workplace.
Could you tell us specifically when coordination skills become important, what you pay attention to when coordinating various things, priorities, etc.?

ToyoizumiI mentioned earlier that we hold an event called Rare Disease Day (Note 1) within the company.
February 28 is recognized worldwide as Rare Disease Day, so we have designated February as RDD month in our company.
In order to start this event, we had to coordinate or rather consult with various departments.
We are speaking from the standpoint of the Corporate Communications Department, but for this one event, each department of the company, including the Human Resources Department and the Marketing Department, will be working on the same event from their own standpoints.
However, because different departments have different business operations, there are often differences in the way they see things.
So, the question becomes, "Why are we doing it?" What is the point? and "What's the point?
Therefore, I try to bring my ideas to them with a certain degree of preparation, considering in advance what questions this department might have and how they can make the most of them in their daily work.
If I consult with them with this attitude, they will listen to me sincerely.
Related to the communication skills I mentioned earlier, if I can convey that I am not being one-sided, that I am not being coercive, and that I am bringing up the issue with the other side in mind, that alone will make the adjustment go one step better.
Since we are starting from different starting points, I think it would be good to be aware of the importance of bringing up the subject with the feeling of "I'd like to discuss something with you.

Students, when talking with patients, for example, you need to prepare in advance by thinking about what questions you will be asked.

ToyoizumiWhen I am in contact with a patient, I almost always know the disease he or she is suffering from, so I try to keep in mind that the disease has these characteristics and that this may possibly happen on the same day.
Also, I am sure that the disease will include taboos that the patient does not want to be told about, so it is important to have that information beforehand.
If we talk about such points without knowing anything about them, we may end up hurting the patient.
This is a little different from the internal coordination mentioned earlier, but sufficient advance preparation is still necessary when talking with patients.
I believe that you have thought about the question you are asking now before you asked it, so I think that is another form of preparation.
I think it is very important to think about what you are going to say before you say it to someone.
I think it is important to keep this in mind, even if it is only for a short period of time.

It is also important to share with patients what is troubling them
and work together to find a solution

ModeratorYou just talked about treating patients.

In your lecture, you mentioned "being able to bring a smile to the patient" as an evaluation criterion.
I would like to be more specific, or perhaps you would like to tell us about a particularly impressive experience in which you have been able to bring a smile to a patient's face.

ToyoizumiAs I mentioned at the beginning of my lecture, I was transferred to my current department in October, so it has only been a few months.
Therefore, my experience is still limited, but even so, when I speak with people from patients' support groups, I hear about the many problems that they are facing.
One of them told me that they have difficulty in communicating their illnesses to others.
As a pharmaceutical company, we study our own drugs and diseases, and we sometimes talk about the characteristics of diseases and the symptoms that often occur, but when we talk to the general public, the first thing we do is ask, "What is that word? When we talk to the general public, we start by asking, "What is that word?
In other words, I start by explaining the terminology.
I think we need materials that help patients to better communicate their illnesses to others, including not only information on drugs and illnesses, but also introductions to terminology and explanations in easy-to-understand language.
We are in the process of developing such tools.
It has not taken shape yet, but I believe that patients will be happy if they share their problems with us and we work together to find solutions.
I believe that is one experience that will bring a smile to their faces.

Provide information to physicians accurately, appropriately, and straightforwardly
Relationships with patients are also through medical professionals

ModeratorThe pharmaceutical industry is an industry in which it is difficult to work directly with patients.
Therefore, I think some of our activities may be difficult to understand.
Do you have any questions about this?

StudentI am considering MR as what I want to be in the future.
If possible, I would like to do research on anticancer drugs at the university I am currently attending, and then work as an MR to provide information and explain drugs to doctors and pharmacists, and by extension, deliver drugs to patients.
However, you mentioned earlier that MRs also have opportunities to listen to the voices of patients together with doctors and other professionals.
I think MRs generally have a strong image of being drug salespeople, but I don't have a concrete image of how they interact with patients, so I wanted to know more about that. Could you tell us about it?

ToyoizumiI worked as an MR for 12 years, but I never had any contact with patients in that time.
It was not until I started working in patient advocacy that I was able to make contact with patients.
MRs are often associated with drug sales, but it is not enough just to introduce the drug and sell it. If we do not do so, we will not be able to provide the information to patients.
If we do not do this, the information will not reach the patients who are beyond the drug's use.
Therefore, although not directly, MRs have opportunities to talk with medical professionals, so they are indirectly involved and connected with patients by providing information and disease awareness tools at such occasions.
We also learn about patients' voices, or feedback from patients, through physicians.
It is in this process that we, the pharmaceutical industry, come into contact with patients.
In such cases, I feel again that although we cannot provide information directly to patients, it is conveyed to them through physicians.

StudentSo you are indirectly connected to patients through the process of supporting doctors and nurses.

ToyoizumiThat 's right. I never had direct contact with patients.

ModeratorThe pharmaceutical industry has very strict rules, and we believe that we are an industry that must be careful not to become promotional.
Laws and regulations regarding promotion, industry regulations, and self-regulation are very strict.

So you are not allowed to market directly to student patients?

ModeratorThe main principle is to convey correct information to patients through physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and others.
While this must be strictly adhered to, patient feedback received through physicians is also brought back to the company, and this information is then utilized in the next phase of drug development.

StudentThank you very much.
Let me ask you one more question about communication.
When you were an MR, was there anything you paid attention to when communicating with physicians?
I believe that information must be conveyed accurately and appropriately, but please tell us about any mistakes you made or anything else you kept in mind.

ToyoizumiI think it is very important to be accurate, appropriate, and straightforward in providing information to doctors.
There are various cases, but if we can visit when there is a little time after the morning clinic and before the afternoon clinic, we can take our time to look at the data and ask each patient in detail.
However, since most patients are busy, we would like to focus on one point that we would like to convey today, whether it is data or information, and give them the gist of what we are trying to tell them.
Instead of taking 10 minutes to talk, it is easier for the teachers to accept the information if I give it in one minute, so that is what I tried to do.
For example, if I couldn't tell them in that one session, I could say, "I will come back next week," and the teachers might feel more relaxed, and I could expect to build a relationship of trust with them through repeated visits.
In this sense, we sometimes dared to postpone the visit to the next week, while watching the teachers' reactions.

Aiming to be a global specialty pharma
working on drug development with a focus on rare diseases

ToyoizumiBefore I take your next question, I would like to add one more thing about my lecture.
In my speech, I talked about the gap between before and after I joined the company.
I said that I have never thought anything was different from what I expected after joining the company.
Perhaps some of you might have doubts that this is true, or you might have thought that the company might have told you that.
However, I really do believe that.
I think the reason for this is that I did not originally have big dreams for a pharmaceutical company, nor did I have any grandiose ideas about what I would definitely accomplish here.
On the contrary, once I joined the company, I had many positive impressions, such as that the work was more fun than I expected and that there were more things I could do than I had expected, so I think that's why I thought so.

ModeratorIn relation to what Mr. Toyoizumi has said so far, do you have any questions about pharmaceutical companies?

StudentI will be entering medical school in April.
Since I am interested in the pharmaceutical industry, I would like to ask you three questions about the company, completely unrelated to my job.
First, I would like to ask you about the kind of people who are active in your company, or in other words, the corporate culture.
Second, what are the strengths of your company that other pharmaceutical companies do not have?
Third, what are the issues that your company is currently facing?
Thank you very much for your time.

ToyoizumiThank you for your question.
I think it would be better to have comments here not only from me but also from the moderator, Mr. Yoshida.
First of all, I think that people who are active in their work are, as a matter of course, people who work hard and positively in any kind of work.
I have the impression that such people do not stay in one department, but continue to be active while being transferred to various departments.
On the other hand, there are times when things don't go well in the first department to which you are assigned, and those who think that things are not going well, that they don't like it, or that they are thinking about quitting, seem to be in a negative spiral, or in a situation where things are not going well for a long time.
I think that those who are not defeated by the status quo even when things are not going well, and who continue to work sincerely on how they can improve and how they can break free from the situation, are the ones who are able to achieve some kind of results.
I believe that they are also able to step up in the company afterwards.
What is your opinion, Mr. Yoshida?

ModeratorOn the contrary, I think it is good to have a variety of people.
Especially with the current trend toward globalization, people who have done well in the past may unexpectedly come to a standstill.
In such cases, I believe that many things cannot be resolved without a variety of people.
I think the key to success for those who become leaders lies in whether or not they can build a team of various people.

ToyoizumiThank you very much.
Next, regarding the second point about our company's strengths, we are actually conducting research and development by taking advantage of the four areas of disease that are our strengths in the current medium-term management plan.
I believe that these four areas are the company's strengths.
In addition, in the course of our work, we are also looking for ways to contribute to patients with rare diseases, and we are working on both drugs and advocacy in this regard.
I think one of Kyowa Kirin's strengths is that our major goal is to save as many people facing illness as possible.
We are now expanding our activities not only domestically but also overseas.
I believe that we are able to contribute to many people around the globe.
Mr. Yoshida, what do you think?

ModeratorWe now have a goal of becoming a global specialty pharma, so rather than being involved in all areas all-around, we aim to develop and provide drugs that we have identified that we must deliver.
One of these drugs is for rare diseases.
It is a rare disease worldwide and there may only be a handful of patients in a single country, but we are happy to be able to deliver this drug to people who are really waiting for it.
However, our efforts to become a global specialty pharma are only 10 years old, so the foundation is not that easy to build.
Moreover, it is really difficult to obtain approval in each country with different regulations.
Even so, our current challenge is to establish a global value chain that combines development, manufacturing, and sales capabilities sufficient to deliver drugs to the world.
It is challenging, but I believe that the road ahead will not be easy.

Acting as a conduit between physicians and patients is the role of
patient advocacy

ModeratorThis will be the last question, but who would like to speak?

StudentYou mentioned earlier that patient advocacy is a job that allows you to be close to patients, but in reality, there must be difficulties in being an intermediary, such as being caught between patients and doctors.
Can you tell us about that?

ToyoizumiYou are absolutely right. There are times when I am caught between having contact with the doctors and having contact with the patients, and listening to the concerns of both.
However, I don't really feel that I am in between the two, and I strongly believe that I can be more of a bridge between the two.
For example, there are cases of rare diseases that are not easily diagnosed, and patients continue to suffer for five or seven years without a diagnosis.
On the other hand, doctors often wish they could come to them and perform tests to find the disease, but their wishes often do not reach the patients.
In such cases, we, the pharmaceutical companies, act as a bridge between the doctors and the patients, telling them what the doctors are thinking and what they should tell the doctors if they feel something is wrong.
Or, even if that patient cannot go directly to the doctor, he or she may see another medical institution and eventually reach that doctor.
So rather than being on the board, we think of ourselves as a conduit.
By fulfilling such a role in various ways, I hope that little by little, the problems of patients and doctors will disappear.

When I interviewed patients , some said that they could not get to the hospital easily, or that their symptoms were too mild to go to the hospital in the first place, and they did not know whether they should go or not.
I thought that having someone like Mr. Toyosen to connect us in such cases would be very reassuring and lead to a quick resolution.
Thank you very much.

Thank you Toyosen.
In fact, when something ailing you or those around you happens, there must be many people who wonder if they can go to a hospital for such a problem, and I think there are many people who are not sure if their condition is really nothing serious or not, what the cause is, and so on.
I hope that we, as a pharmaceutical company, can work to help people who are concerned about their health and their own condition, and to help them to go to the hospital without hesitation when they feel unwell, and to take the first step forward.

ModeratorIt is almost time to end.
Thank you very much.