Conflict of interest statement: The study was designed under the responsibility 
of Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd. The study was funded by Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd. Study 
drug was provided by Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd; Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd collected and 
analyzed the data and contributed to the interpretation of the study. All 
authors had full access to all of the data in the study and had final 
responsibility for the decision to submit for publication. Masatoshi Kudo has 
received honoraria, research funds and/or grants from Abbvie, Bayer, 
Bristol‐Myers Squibb, EA Pharma, Eisai, Eli Lilly, Gilead, MSD, Ono 
Pharmaceutical, Otsuka Pharmaceutical, Roche, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, Taiho 
Pharmaceutical, and Takeda Pharmaceutical. Manabu Morimoto has received research 
funds from MSD, Ono Pharmaceutical, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, 
AstraZeneca, and Takeda Pharmaceutical. Namiki Izumi and Michihisa Moriguchi 
have received honoraria from Bayer and Eisai. Tetsuji Takayama has received 
grants from Abbvie, Eisai, Taiho Pharmaceutical, Daiichi Sankyo, Eli Lilly, 
Bayer, Teijin Pharma, and Zeria Pharmaceutical. Keisuke Hino has received 
honoraria and/or grants from MSD, Abbvie, Gilead, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, and 
Otsuka Pharmaceutical. Hitoshi Yoshiji, Tetsuhiro Chiba, Junko Kato and Kentaro 
Yasuchika have no conflicts of interest to declare. Kenta Motomura has received 
honoraria from Eisai. Akio Ido has received honoraria, research funds and/or 
grants from Gilead, Abbvie, Bristol‐Myers Squibb, EA Pharma, Fujifilm, Otsuka 
Pharmaceutical, Eisai, and SNBL, and belongs to an endowed chair funded by 
Eisai. Takashi Sato and Daisuke Nakashima have been employees of Kyowa Kirin. 
Kazuomi Ueshima has received honoraria from Eisai, Bayer, and Eli Lilly. 
Masafumi Ikeda has received honoraria and/or research funds from Bayer, Eisai, 
Eli Lilly, Novartis, Taiho Pharmaceutical; Bristol‐Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca, 
Chugai Pharmaceutical, MSD, Ono Pharmaceuticals, Yakult Honsha, Aslan 
Pharmaceutical, Merck Serono, and J‐Pharma. Takuji Okusaka has received research 
funds from AstraZeneca, Chugai Pharmaceutical, Eisai, Novartis, and 
Bristol‐Myers Squibb. Kazuo Tamura has received remuneration from AC Medical. 
Junji Furuse has received honoraria and/or research funds from Bayer, Ono 
Pharmaceutical, Eisai, Taiho Pharmaceutical, Fujifilm, Chugai Pharmaceutical, 
Astellas Pharma, Novartis, Yakult Honsha, Teijin Pharma, MSD, Sumitomo Dainippon 
Pharma, J‐Pharma, and AstraZeneca.