Astellas Pharma Inc. has approved changes to its Representative Director, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and its management structure. Naoki Okamura, Astellas’ current Chief Strategy Officer and Corporate Executive Vice-President, will take over as company CEO and president from Kenji Yasukawa. Yasukawa will stay on with the company as Representative Director and Chairman of the Board.

As the Chief Strategy Officer, Okamura had been in-charge of Advanced Informatics and Analytics, Business Development, Corporate Strategy, Information Systems, iota Biosciences, Patient Centricity, Primary Focus Lead Blindness & Beyond, Primary Focus Lead Genetic Regulation, Primary Focus Lead Immune Homeostasis, Primary Focus Lead Immuno-Oncology, Primary Focus Lead Mitochondria, Rx+ Business Accelerator, Transformation Office.

Okamura joined Astellas in 1986. In 2010, he took over as the President & CEO of OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an American pharmaceutical company acquired Astellas Pharma for $4 billion in 2010. Later in 2012, he took charge as the Senior Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer, Astellas Pharma Europe. He has served multiple roles thereafter at Astellas.

Astellas has been working on its Corporate Strategic Plan 2018 and Corporate Strategic Plan 2021 (CSP2021) since fiscal year 2018, when Kenji Yasukawa was appointed as President and CEO, to realize its VISION “On the forefront of healthcare change to turn innovative science into VALUE for patients”.