Message from the Senior Executive Officer of Health Science Strategy

May 30, 2025

The Kirin Group aims to be a global leader in CSV and is committed to resolving social issues through its business operations. There are many companies in the domain of health, but the goal of our Group is to help each person in the regions in which we operate to realize joy and a fulfilling life through health.

We are promoting initiatives to resolve consumer issues by using our unique approach, which focuses on “building natural health as the foundation” and “individual health issues.” Daily meals, exercise, and rest are important, but it is also vital to build natural health as the foundation to enhance our innate human capabilities by incorporating immune care into our routines. We believe building natural health as the foundation will enable us to effectively address individual health issues related to lifestyle-related diseases, brain function, skin health, and more. We will fully leverage our Group’s strengths, ranging from technology centered around R&D for product development that meets market needs based on a deep understanding of consumers to other indispensable functions, including marketing capabilities, optimized supply chains, as well as brands and sales channels. In this way, we will tackle consumer health issues head on with everything from our materials to our services.

We have established a foundation of growth for the Health Science Domain by acquiring the Australia-based Blackmores Limited in 2023, making FANCL Corporation a consolidated subsidiary in 2024, steadily expanding the Lactococcus lactis strain Plasma (LC-Plasma, a post-biotic) Business, and restructuring the business of Kyowa Hakko Bio Co., Ltd.

Blackmores possesses strengths in the form of a wide range of consumer touchpoints in the Asia-Pacific region and its leading position in natural health—characteristics not previously associated with the Kirin Group. In 2024, Blackmores secured profits as planned in Australia, China, Southeast Asia, and South Korea and led the global development of our Health Science Business.

FANCL’s strength is the development of its Cosmetics and Health Food Businesses based on the strong philosophy of “Eliminate ‘negatives.’” The deep understanding of consumers that the company has gained through its stores and online sales channels also constitutes a great strength. Kirin Group and FANCL have engaged in numerous collaborations since establishing a capital and business alliance agreement in 2019 and, with the company becoming a fully owned subsidiary of the Group last year, FANCL is launching new initiatives to further raise its value. We have high expectations that FANCL will enhance its brand strength in Japan and will formulate and implement an overseas growth strategy utilizing that strength.

What will support us in developing the Health Science Domain is steady growth in core markets. The status of our brands differs between countries, so effectively leveraging our strong brands of supplements, skincare, beverages, and dairy products in different markets and countries, along with making active investments, will allow us to further solidify ourselves as a market leader in the core areas of our brands.

The key to this new value creation will be our high value-added materials. Our LC-Plasma products that centered around the Immune Care series, available in various forms including beverages, supplements, and yogurt, grew steadily in 2024 as well, and achieved nearly 20% growth year-on-year, with a revenue of 24.0 billion yen. We believe the value of LC-Plasma as a material still has very strong growth potential. We are continuously promoting not only marketing in Japan but also research toward the development of pharmaceuticals, including vaccines. Going forward, we will further solidify our foundation in Japan while leveraging Blackmores’ sales capabilities to promote global development. In March 2025, the Blackmores brand launched its first LC-Plasma supplement in Taiwan. This is also the first time an LC-Plasma product has entered the Taiwanese market. This success was achieved in only about eight months, a speed unattainable by Kirin alone, by using Blackmores’ expertise on Taiwanese market regulations and their sales channels. Following this achievement, we plan to enter new markets every year, such as Australia, Thailand, and Vietnam. We will accelerate the growth of our LC-Plasma Business by expanding overseas and developing new channels, including out-licensing.

Furthermore, collaborations between the Health Science and Pharmaceuticals Businesses are in full swing. In September 2024, Kirin and Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd., co-funded the establishment of Cowellnex Corporation. This joint venture will innovate through R&D, venture investments, and collaboration in business development. In January 2025, FANCL launched a website, Nagomi time, which provides comprehensive information on changes in cancer patients’ appearance and care methods, and began distributing an awareness booklet. Planning of this initiative started in collaboration with Kyowa Kirin in December 2022, and the project was originally a part of Kirin and FANCL’s efforts to address issues related to appearance care for cancer patients.