Digital Transformation at Santen

With a view to sustainable growth over the medium to long term, we will strengthen our company-wide IT and security foundation and promote digital utilization at every business layer.

In today’s business world, data is one of the most valuable assets. However, data alone does not create value. To truly benefit, data must be identified, collected with reliable quality, and made easily accessible and understandable for employees. Only when each employee has the right knowledge and can turn information into actionable insights does data reach its full potential.

At Santen, we use the DIKW model to illustrate how data is transformed into value:

This pyramid shows how we move step by step from basic data to information, knowledge, and finally wisdom, leading to better business decisions and greater competitiveness.

At Santen, we are advancing initiatives to accelerate and enhance decision-making through Data & Analytics, focusing on the following three pillars.

We offer step-by-step learning programs for every employee to understand and use data effectively in their work.

Through these steps, we provide various learning opportunities to enhance data utilization skills across the company.

To make good decisions based on accurate data, Santen is focusing on the following five points:

Santen is developing mechanisms that promote information sharing both within and across departments, aiming to break down barriers between teams and systems. By making data as widely available as possible throughout the company, we are creating an environment where anyone can access the information they need, whenever they need it.

This approach strengthens collaboration between departments and ensures that important data is not locked away in silos. As a result, employees can conduct cross-functional analyses and make quick decisions from a global perspective. Our goal is to empower everyone at Santen to use data freely and confidently, supporting faster and better decision-making across the organization.

In this way, Santen will continue to build a foundation of data that everyone can use, making it possible for all employees to work in new ways and make better decisions throughout the company.

Santen positions data as a source of value creation. Moving forward, we will continue to strengthen data literacy across the organization, improve the quality and quantity of data and information, and establish a unified data foundation. These efforts will enable every employee to make faster and more accurate decisions.
As we evolve into a resilient organization capable of adapting to rapid change, we remain committed to transforming data into value—driving this challenge forward together as one company.

Generative AI is a technology that learns from large amounts of data to summarize information in natural language and create new content. Its value lies in organizing complex information, supporting faster and more accurate decision-making, and improving the quality and speed of work. In the pharmaceutical industry, generative AI can be used across the entire value chain—from R&D and clinical trials to manufacturing, quality control, logistics, marketing, and sales—helping companies stay competitive in a rapidly changing environment.

Santen aims to deeply embed generative AI into our corporate culture, empowering every employee and building an agile, fast-moving organization. By democratizing access to generative AI, we are improving productivity and competitiveness across the company.
We see our company-wide generative AI initiatives as not only a way to boost productivity, but also as a key strategy for shaping our culture, promoting cross-departmental collaboration, and strengthening our business capability.

Santen is implementing generative AI not just for efficiency, but as a driver for intellectual productivity and organizational transformation. We have set four strategic layers, each with clear goals and actions:

“Ganta-kun” – AI Agent for Ophthalmology Practice Management Inquiries    Japan Business Unit
Born from the need to “access the right information more efficiently,” Ganta-kun is a chatbot-style AI agent designed to support ophthalmology-related inquiries.
Previously, staff in the Japan Business Unit had to gather regulatory and legal information for ophthalmic care and use it to respond to Healthcare Professionals inquiries. Although the company had extensive educational materials and FAQs, locating the right content quickly was a challenge.
With Ganta-kun, staff can simply ask questions via Teams or a dedicated app. The AI agent searches across medical policy knowledge and returns summarized answers from relevant sources. It’s intuitive even for non-experts, significantly improving the speed and quality of MR activities and decision-making.
Feedback from the field includes: “I can find what I need instantly,” “Work efficiency has improved,” and “AI answers are easy to understand.”

AI Agent for Product Knowledge Support    EMEA Business Unit
Responding to the need for “quick and easy access to product knowledge,” the EMEA region introduced an AI agent to support Preserflo product inquiries.
Sales representatives often face challenges finding accurate, up-to-date information from vast documentation. The new AI agent allows them to ask questions on the spot and receive immediate answers about key product details and procedural tips.
This solution enables efficient learning during daily activities, with feedback such as: “I can access information instantly,” “Questions are resolved on the spot,” and “Learning has accelerated.”

AI Agent for Sales Incentive Calculation    China Business Unit
To address the desire for “real-time visibility into personal performance,” an AI agent was developed to support incentive calculations.
Sales teams in China struggled with complex incentive rules and lacked real-time insight into their earnings. The newly introduced AI agent helps representatives understand the incentive system and calculate their performance and rewards instantly, while ensuring strict data privacy.
This initiative has created a positive feedback loop, boosting motivation across the sales organization.

Leveraging Generative AI for Internal Knowledge    Nara R&D Center
Driven by the need to “maximize the use of internal knowledge efficiently,” the Nara R&D Center pioneered the adoption of Microsoft 365 Copilot.
Efforts include improving internal information search through SharePoint-based agents and enabling scientific reasoning by referencing internal data in AI models. In parallel, the team is digitizing paper documents, migrating data to the cloud, and restructuring content for AI readiness.
These initiatives have led to significant improvements in knowledge utilization and operational efficiency, with researchers reporting: “Access to information is now seamless,” and “The quality and speed of work have improved dramatically.”

By gradually introducing and utilizing generative AI, Santen has expanded possibilities in flexibility, efficiency, knowledge sharing, and talent development. We will further promote integration with internal and external data and systems, and expand specialized applications to support employee growth and create new value. Together with generative AI, we will continue to take on new challenges and drive innovation for global competitiveness and sustainable growth.

Through these efforts, we protect the stable supply of our products by ensuring “IT never stops.”
*For more information on our information security measures, please see
https://www.santen.com/en/sustainability/security