Daiichi Sankyo Company has appointed Hiroyuki Okuzawa, 62, to succeed Sunao Manabe, DVM, PhD as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective April 1, 2025.
Dr Manabe will transition from his current role of Representative Director, Executive Chairperson and CEO to Representative Director and Executive Chairperson while Okuzawa will transition to Representative Director, President and CEO.
In order to ensure the solid achievement of FY2025 goals and to strengthen its management structure, Daiichi Sankyo’s Board of Directors appointed Okuzawa as the new CEO at the board meeting on January 31, 2025, based on the Nomination Committee’s report. This transition in April 2025 will occur as Daiichi Sankyo enters the final year of its current five-year business plan and it starts full scale preparation for the next five-year business plan (FY2026-2030).
Okuzawa joined Daiichi Sankyo in 1986 and has served as Representative Director, President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) since 2023. He also held the role of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for two years and other senior leadership roles in international business, corporate strategy and human resources during his tenure at Daiichi Sankyo. Okuzawa graduated from Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo with a degree in Social Sciences. Okuzawa has 50,741 shares of the company as of September 30, 2024.
