DAIICHI SANKYO NORDICS ApS

First isolation of adrenaline by Dr. Jokichi Takamine, the first president of Sankyo Shoten

Our roots in Europe can be traced back to Luitpold-Werk, a pharmaceutical company founded on 22 January 1910 in Munich, Germany.

Discovery of the first HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor by Sankyo - origin of the statin class

Daiichi discovers levofloxacin, the first third-generation quinolone

Launch of olmesartan, an angiotensin II receptor blocker

To strengthen our oncology pipeline, we acquire the biotech company U3 Pharma in Martinsried, Germany.

In addition, we lay the foundation for further growth in Europe by acquiring the marketing rights for the osteoporosis drug Evista®.

An oral antiplatelet agent to prevent atherothrombotic events, Efient® , is launched in several European countries. The medication is based on the active ingredient prasugrel.

We continue our growth strategy by opening new affiliates in Ireland and Turkey. The latter has been the fastest growing pharmaceutical market in Europe at that time. We also substantially increase our field force capacity by taking over sales representatives from Merck Serono in France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Turkey. As a result, the number of employees in Europe grows from about 1,700 in 2007 to nearly 2,500 in 2010.

After the big earthquake and the tsunami in Japan we offer strong support for our colleagues in Japan, e.g. by taking over production of drugs by our Pfaffenhofen facility.

We also launch an aid initiative called “Daiichi Sankyo Children Aid” to help Japanese children severely affected by the earthquake disaster.

We present Phase III results of the Hokusai-VTE study for treatment and prevention of recurrence of venous thromboembolism at the European Society of Cariology (ESC) congress in Amsterdam with its oral, once-daily factor Xa inhibitor edoxaban. A few months later we announce the results from the ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 study, a global Phase III trial which evaluated the prevention of stroke and systemic embolic events in patients with atrial fibrillation.

Daiichi Sankyo acquires the biopharmaceutical company Ambit Biosciences. At our German plant in Pfaffenhofen near Munich a new building for Pharmaceutical Development is inaugurated providing 100 employees who work here with a state-of-the-art environment on 5,000 square meters.

Launch of edoxaban, a non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC) and direct factor Xa inhibitor

Edoxaban, an oral factor Xa-inhibitor, is approved in the European Union and introduced in the first markets.

Conclusion of a Europe-wide commercial licensing agreement with Esperion for the marketing of oral once-daily bempedoic acid and the fixed combination of bempedoic acid with ezetimibe.

European Commission approval and first launch of bempedoic acid in Europe. Bempedoic acid and its fixed-dose combination with ezetimibe is approved for use in adults with primary hypercholesterolaemia or mixed dyslipidaemia in Europe**

Bempedoic acid and a fixed-dose combination of bempedoic acid and ezetimibe are approved in the European Union in April 2020, and later introduced into the first market in late 2020. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we launched a variety of relief efforts across Europe.

Conditional approval of Daiichi Sankyo’s first oncological product in Europe in January 2021.

In April 2023 we opened our new Canadian affiliate, part of the European Daiichi Sankyo region.

In April 2024, we welcomed the newest member of our European family, our Greek affiliate.

Further milestones of our investment of around 1 billion euros have been implemented at our Pfaffenhofen site, with the aim of developing it into an international innovation centre for oncology.