[4][5] On July 1, 1949 the forerunner of the present company, Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co., Ltd. is established.

On July 11, 2014, the KHK subsidiary, ProStrakan Group (based in Scotland), acquired Archimedes Pharma from the Novo Nordisk Foundation for $394 million [6] In 2019, Kirin Holdings acquired 95% stake in Kyowa Hakko Bio which is Kyowa Kirin's subsidiary corporation.

In November 2022, Kyowa Kirin announced plans to spin its international established medicines portfolio into a new joint venture with German company Grünenthal.

[8] In October 2023, Kyowa Kirin acquired a Britain-based biopharmaceutical company, Orchard Therapeutics, for $478 million.

The company gained marketing approval in Japan in April 2012 for a monoclonal antibody drug called mogamulizumab which was developed using the platform.