chugai

Chugai Pharma Taiwan (CPT) recently organized a company-wide visit to the "Rare Disease Home", a residential care facility affiliated with the Rare Disease Foundation located in Hsinchu. Far more than a corporate outing, this meaningful journey brought employees face-to-face with the lived realities of individuals living with rare diseases. Through hands-on experiences, heartfelt life stories, and warm cross-institutional connections, the visit transformed the company's core value of "Patient Centricity" from an abstract principle into a deeply personal and unforgettable conviction for every employee.

The highlight of the day was a profoundly moving life story shared by Cheng-Ying Lee, a rare disease patient and the founder of Shí Máo Handcraft (蒔毛手作), a needle felting studio. Her journey touched the hearts of every CPT colleague in attendance.

Seven years ago, Cheng-Ying was driven by passion and ambition, pushing herself relentlessly in a high-pressure professional environment. The cumulative toll on her physical and mental health eventually triggered an acute episode, leading to a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis / Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder (NMOSD) — a rare autoimmune disease of the central nervous system with an unpredictable disease course. The condition left her with lower limb paralysis, confining her to a wheelchair and fundamentally transforming her daily life.

In the aftermath of her diagnosis, Cheng-Ying discovered needle felting by chance. The meditative rhythm of pressing wool into form, stitch by stitch, gradually calmed her restless mind. Through the act of creation, she found her own small moments of joy, and with each completed piece, slowly reclaimed a sense of control, confidence, and hope.

Drawing on her years of professional experience in commercial design, Cheng-Ying founded Shí Máo Handcraft, a studio that weaves together artistry and healing. Through hands-on workshops, she hopes to accompany fellow patients on a journey of creative discovery — offering a space where hearts can find comfort and nourishment through the gentle art of craft.

During the visit, Cheng-Ying led all employees in a needle felting DIY workshop, followed by an open Q&A session, fostering genuine and candid dialogue between patients and colleagues. The experience allowed employees to feel — through their own hands — the resilience and everyday strength of those living with rare diseases.

Beyond the life story sharing, staff from the Rare Disease Foundation designed a series of immersive experiential activities to guide employees in understanding realities that words alone cannot fully convey.

In the wheelchair navigation exercise, employees sat in wheelchairs and attempted to move, turn, and maneuver through obstacles — only to realize that living with mobility impairment is far more than "moving a little slower." It is a long and demanding process of relearning and adapting every single daily action. In the blindfolded object-finding activity, employees simulated the experience of visual impairment, immediately sensing the anxiety, helplessness, and profound reliance on the surrounding environment that comes with the loss of sight.

These immersive activities shifted employees' perspective from that of an observer to that of someone who truly understands a patient's world from within. The empathy cultivated through such lived experience runs far deeper than any data set or report — and serves as a far more powerful and enduring source of motivation in employees' day-to-day work.

Another memorable highlight of the event was a pour-over coffee booth set up by the Longtan Intellectual Disability Care Center.

At the warm invitation of the Rare Disease Home's Executive Director, the Center's dedicated "Coffee Team" traveled to the venue with a carefully curated selection of coffee beans. Residents personally demonstrated their pour-over techniques and brewed cold brew coffee for all attendees to enjoy. A social worker took the opportunity to share the story behind "Longzhi Coffee" — its origins, its growth, and its deeper meaning. More than just a cup of coffee, it is an inspiring story of individuals who, through vocational training, have found their own sense of worth and a meaningful connection to society.

By the end of the event, every cup of cold brew and every drip coffee bag had been sold out. The enthusiastic support shown by CPT employees was not merely an appreciation for great coffee — it was a sincere and heartfelt encouragement to every resident whose efforts and dreams are reflected in each carefully brewed cup.

As a further expression of care, CPT presented a special gift rooted in environmental sustainability to the Rare Disease Home.

In 2026, CPT launched a meaningful ESG initiative — sponsoring organic, low-carbon rice paddies cultivated through eco-friendly farming practices, yielding a harvest of "Low-Carbon Rice" that embodies both health and sustainability. During this visit, the company donated this harvest — a symbol of employees' collective goodwill and corporate social responsibility — to the Rare Disease Home, with the hope that this wholesome gift from the earth would bring warmth, nourishment, and strength to those living with rare diseases.

From sponsoring rice paddies to donating organic rice, CPT has not only taken concrete action in fulfilling its commitment to environmental sustainability, but has also extended the spirit of ESG into tangible care for patients — making every grain of organic rice a genuine and meaningful bond between the company and the community it serves.

CPT's President Yuji Habara delivered a memorable opening and closing address that resonated deeply with all in attendance. He reflected that as a pharmaceutical company driven by the mission of innovative medicine, the numbers, reports, and decisions handled in the office every day are ultimately connected to countless real lives — lives like Cheng-Ying's — of people living with illness and striving forward with courage. It is precisely for this reason, he emphasized, that "Patient Centricity" must never be reduced to a corporate slogan. It must be the deepest driving force behind every employee's every decision, on every working day.

President Habara called on all colleagues to carry forward what they saw, heard, and felt that day — transforming those experiences into an unwavering conviction in their daily work. Everything we do, he affirmed, is to ensure that patients can live with greater dignity, higher quality of life, and boundless possibility.