As reviewing chemical safety progresses across the world, the number of chemicals that newly become subject to legal control is increasing. We have been applying even stricter controls on chemical substances than legal requirements. We also enhanced such anticipatory management by designating priority substances through our own initiatives— even if the chemicals were not legally designated, and have started replacing or reducing usage of these priority risk management chemical substances.
From the animal welfare viewpoint, the Fujifilm Group is increasingly using alternative methods to animal testing for chemical safety evaluations. ADRA, an alternative test method for skin sensitization tests that Fujifilm developed was adopted in the test guidelines of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). We are promoting wider usage of ADRA, along with a designated reagent provided by FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemical Corporation. As a leading company employing animal testing alternatives, we have set a target for the actual usage ratio of animal testing alternatives in our internal safety evaluation.
Our core technologies include molecular design capabilities for functional molecules and functional polymers, and their engineering technologies. Based on such core technologies, we are developing new materials and offering them as new value to society. We are also directing our efforts into manufacturing process innovation to improve resource usage efficiency and performance. We have set new targets to contribute to resolving social issues through these activities.
Sharing information on chemicals in products and safe handling methods for such chemicals across the supply chain is a basic requirement for sound chemical management. Because the Fujifilm Group operates businesses in all areas of upstream, midstream, and downstream of the supply chain, we have set new targets to ensure chemical and product safety by disseminating our chemical management expertise.
Since FY2000, FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemical Corporation has held more than 400 training sessions on Safe Management of Reagents for our customers in corporations, universities, hospitals, and public research institutes. Our sessions are highly appreciated for their easy-to-understand contents directly connected to actual work with abundant examples. Some of the customers request us to provide such sessions annually. To respond to demands from a greater number of customers, we plan to increase the number of lecturers. We continue to contribute to minimizing chemical risks by providing the same training to Fujifilm Group employees.
The Fujifilm Group launched contract development and manufacturing services for peptides for pharmaceuticals and cosmetics in 2019.
Peptides are protein fragments composed of chains of amino acids. Peptides with the complicated structures required for developing pharmaceuticals and biomaterials are difficult to synthesize using conventional methods, and the amount of solvent used increases in the purification process to increase purity, so there is also a significant environmental burden caused at the time of disposal.
The advantages of the synthesis process developed by Fujifilm over conventional methods include being able to manufacture complex peptides with high efficiency and purity, which enables reducing the amount of solvent to be used and even avoiding use of solvents that could cause cancer or reproductive toxicity.
The Fujifilm Group will contribute to R&D on new pharmaceuticals and biomaterials by providing high-performance, high-purity peptides via its proprietary process, which itself contributes to reducing environmental burden.
FUJIFILM Holdings participates in providing technical support related to the handling of chemical substances in ASEAN, an initiative led by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan.
In February 2021, Fujifilm attended a web conference to explain its chemical risk assessment and provide a risk assessment workshop for chemical regulatory authorities and chemical industry associations in both Indonesia and Thailand. This webinar was well received by the attendees for its practical content, which was offered by a company that safely handles a wide range of chemical substances, including reagents, chemical products and high-performance materials.
The Fujifilm Group will continue to take the lead in contributing to ensuring chemical safety in the supply chain, leveraging its knowledge of chemicals management to share necessary skills and systems.
Webinar held for Indonesia