| 1936 |
Toyoji Naito founded the Sakuragaoka Lab in 1936, helping to usher in a new phase in Japanese drug innovation. |
| 1938 |
The Sakuragaoka Lab created a string of hits starting with its 1938 launch of Japan's first commercial vitamin E product, which was developed from wheat germ oil extract. |
| 1941 |
In 1941 Nihon Eisai Co., Ltd., Eisai Co., Ltd.'s immediate predecessor was established in Saitama, eastern Japan. |
| 1944 |
By 1944 had merged with the lab in Sakuragaoka under the name Nihon Eisai Co., Ltd. |
| 1955 |
In 1955, the company changed its name from Nihon Eisai Co., Ltd. to Eisai Co., Ltd., as it is known today. |
| 1957 |
In 1957, with the aim of making another dramatic leap forward, Eisai rolled-out its first 3 year mid term plan. |
| 1977 |
In the 1970s public awareness of health and safety was increasing in Japan and vitamin E attracted much attention. It was against this backdrop that Eisai introduced its vitamin E product to the market in 1977. |
| 1981 |
In 1981, as the first step of the company's business expansion into the United States, Eisai established a local subsidiary, Eisai U.S.A. Inc., in suburban Los Angeles. |
| 1987 |
In 1987, as the Japanese bubble economy inflated and internationalisation became the latest buzzword, Eisai set its sights on breaking into the world's top 20 pharmaceutical companies. |
| 2002 |
Upon breaking into the world's top 20 pharmaceutical companies at the start of the 21st century, Eisai's global business made another dramatic leap forward propelled by stellar contributions from product sales, with its overseas sales ratio in 2002 exceeding 50% for the first time. |
| 2008 |
From 2008 to 2010, with the aim of enabling the exchange of knowledge among its researchers to further accelerate drug innovation Eisai established a network of knowledge centres in Tsukuba, the UK, India, and Tokyo. |
| 2009-06 |
In June 2009 the EMEA Knowledge Centre was completed in Hatfield in the UK. The centre maintains its own research division, as well as a production division—Eisai's first production base in Europe—and marketing division to effectively oversee all Eisai operations in Europe. The centre combines all pharmaceutical business functions, from drug discovery to sales in one location for the first time in the Group's history, realising a longstanding dream of the company's founder, Toyoji Naito. |
| 2014-06 |
In 2014, Eisai expanded into Australia, opening our office in June. |
| 2020 |
In 2020 New Zealand operations commenced. |
