Japanese drug major Daiichi Sankyo (TKO: 4568) is one of the 20 leading pharmaceutical companies worldwide and is a pioneer in industrial R&D-oriented pharmaceutical developments. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, and has approximately 30,000 employees worldwide.

It was founded on September 28, 2005 through the merger of Daiichi Pharmaceutical and Sankyo.

Recent successes include the antihypertensive agent Olmetec (olmesartan), launched in 2002 by Sankyo and now available in more than 50 countries around the world; the antiplatelet agent Efient (prasugrel), launched in 2009 for patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI); and Lixiana (edoxaban), the first available factor Xa inhibitor in Japan, which launched in 2011 to help prevent venous thromboembolism (VTE).

In 2012 it was the 18th biggest pharma company in the world with $11.02 billion of sales revenue and an R&D spend of $2.2 million.