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December 31, 2024
 

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PHARMACEUTICALS

A woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in October.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 29, 2024
Meiji Seika Pharma files suit against lawmaker over 'unfounded' vaccine claims
CDP Lower House lawmaker Kazuhiro Haraguchi has said that the drugmaker's replicon vaccine is "akin to a biological weapon."
The health ministry aims to improve accessibility, particularly in areas with few pharmacies.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 27, 2024
Japan to allow convenience stores to handle over-the-counter drugs
Under current regulations, OTC drugs can only be sold at stores with pharmacists or other qualified personnel stationed at all times.
Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's Osaka factory
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 26, 2024
Hong Kong fund increases its stake in Kobayashi Pharmaceutical
Oasis Management said its stake in Kobayashi Pharmaceutical climbed to 10.1% from 7.5%.
Official prices of nearly half of drugs in Japan will be reduced to lower the burden on patients.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2024
Japan ministers agree on price cuts for half of all drugs
Ministers also agreed to raise the upper limit on out-of-pocket medical expenses.
The government plans to lower official drug prices for fiscal 2025 while carefully considering the scope of items subject to the planned cuts in light of the impacts on drugmakers.
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2024
Japanese drug market prices 5.2% lower than official prices
Generic drugs made up 62.1% of the market by value in September, with a government target of 65% by fiscal 2029 to cut medical costs.
Out of over 16,000 pharmaceutical products, 3,103 — or 18.5% — were either in limited or suspended supply as of the end of October, according to a recent survey. Of these, over 60% are generic drugs.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2024
Japan's generic drug shortage continues as flu season kicks off
The supply shortfall is due to a string of scandals that hit the generic drug industry in recent years as well as other structural problems.
A Nigerian health official administers an mpox vaccination at Federal Medical Center in Abuja, Nigeria, on Monday.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2024
WHO approves Japanese pharmaceutical company's mpox vaccine
The listing from the World Health Organization paves the way for countries worldwide to quickly approve and import the vaccine for distribution.
Lecanemab was developed by drugmakers Eisai of Japan and Biogen of the United States.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 15, 2024
European agency switches to recommending new Alzheimer's drug
The committee judged that the efficacy of lecanemab outweighs the risk for some patients.
For patients using donanemab, it will cost them about ¥3.08 million per year. But national insurance coverage will have the government shoulder most of the cost.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 13, 2024
Japan OKs insurance coverage of Alzheimer's drug donanemab
Donanemab became the second Alzheimer's drug that targets causative deposited plaque in the brain to win the coverage after lecanemab.
A pharmacist displays boxes of Ozempic in Provo, Utah.
BUSINESS
Nov 6, 2024
Obesity drug maker Novo Nordisk posts strong profit
Europe's most valuable company and the main driver of the Danish economy said it expected its 2024 full-year sales to be up by 23% to 27% from a year earlier.
Since October, patients have been asked to pay more for brand-name drugs prescribed by medical institutions if the patents have expired.
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2024
Japan raises out-of-pocket costs for off-patent drugs
With the increases, the government aims to reduce health care costs by encouraging greater use of generic drugs.
Various kinds of over-the-counter drugs seized by police after being illegally kept to be sold in Tokyo's Kabukicho entertainment district and other locations
JAPAN / Society
Nov 1, 2024
Experts call for action on OTC drug abuse among youth in Japan
A number of people have experienced organ damage, including liver failure, with some cases resulting in death.
Takeda Pharmaceutical raised its full-year operating profit guidance to ¥265 billion from ¥225 billion, citing a stronger than expected first-half performance and updated currency assumptions.
BUSINESS
Oct 31, 2024
Japan's Takeda raises full-year profit forecast amid restructuring
Takeda raised its full-year operating profit guidance to ¥265 billion from ¥225 billion, citing a stronger than expected first-half performance.
Keisuke Yoshida, a former Daiichi Sankyo employee, was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Wednesday for murdering his wife with methanol in 2022.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 31, 2024
Ex-employee of drugmaker sentenced to 16 years for methanol murder
Tokyo District Court on Wednesday sentenced a former employee of drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo to 16 years in prison for the murder of his wife by methanol poisoning in 2022.
The winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry are announced in Stockholm, Sweden, on Oct. 9. They are, as seen on the display screen, David Baker (left), of the University of Washington; Demis Hassabis (center) and John M. Jumper (right), both from Google DeepMind, U.K.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 15, 2024
Google's DeepMind Nobel Prize showcases AI’s medical potential
Google’s AlphaFold tool is already widely used by pharmaceutical researchers searching for groundbreaking new medicines.
Hiroyuki Okuzawa, chief operating officer of Daiichi Sankyo, during an interview in Tokyo on Friday
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 11, 2024
Daiichi Sankyo eyes newer cancer drugs to stave off rivals
The Japanese drugmaker has emerged as a leader in ADC, a type of cancer therapy that targets cancerous cells while sparing the healthy ones.
Community leaders discuss the role of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in ending the HIV/AIDS threat to public health by 2030 at a seminar hosted by Gilead Sciences in Tokyo on Sept. 25.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 1, 2024
HIV prevention drug remains out of reach for many in Japan despite approval
The drug's high cost together with insufficient knowledge and awareness are hindering efforts to broaden access to it, experts and community leaders say.
Mecobalamin is a form of vitamin B12 sold as a remedy for peripheral neuropathy and other conditions. It was initially proposed for pharmaceutical approval as a treatment for ALS in 2015 by drugmaker Eisai Co. after its clinical trial found a certain level of efficacy.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 24, 2024
Japan approves sale of new ALS drug, raising hopes among patients
The drug, mecobalamin, extended the survival period of patients within a year of the onset of ALS by over 500 days, surpassing existing drugs.
A scientist looks at brain scans of a patient suffering from Alzheimer's disease in Geneva in 2023.
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 21, 2024
Revolution or mirage? Controversy surrounds new Alzheimer's drugs
For defenders, the drugs represent a real chance to fight the disease. For detractors, they are a disappointment after a long line of costly failures.
Daiichi Sankyo is working on the next generation of targeted cancer drugs.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 17, 2024
Daiichi wants to go it alone in search for targeted cancer drugs
Investors are betting on Daiichi’s continued success, with its share price up 122% in the last five years.
Ukraine risks losing all Russian land it seized within months, U.S. says
Ukrainian soldiers carry the coffins of three comrades killed in recent fighting in eastern Ukraine during their funeral in the western city of Lviv on Dec. 20.
Japanese Princess Kako turns 30
As an adult member of the Imperial Family, Princess Kako has performed various official duties at home and abroad this year.
South Korea's worst plane crash in decades leaves 179 dead
Rescue personnel are seen near the tail section of a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 series aircraft after the plane crashed and burst into flames at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, on Sunday.
U.S. military coordination unit eyed in central Tokyo
A Self-Defense Forces soldier from a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile unit takes part in a drill at Yokota Air Base in Fussa, western Tokyo, in August 2017.
South Korea orders air safety probe after worst-ever crash kills 179
Firefighters on Monday inspect the wreckage of a Jeju Air plane that crashed at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, a day earlier.
Japan news images of 2024: Upheaval, resilience and breakthroughs
A person walks down a street in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the days following a magnitude 7.6 earthquake, which struck off the coast of the Noto Peninsula on Jan. 1, 2024. More than 500 deaths have been attributed to the event, which was the worst quake since the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011.
Japan defense spending goals hit by inflation, weak yen and political uncertainty
Ground Self-Defense Force members conduct a military drill next to an anti-ship missile unit on Miyako Island in Okinawa Prefecture in April 2022.
Japan’s weather in 2024: Record temperatures hurt people’s health and wallets
People cover themselves with umbrellas during a hot summer day in Tokyo's Ginza district in August. Temperatures shot up in early July, even before the official end of the rainy season, and the high temperatures persisted well into the fall.
How Hokkaido quietly became a culinary treasure trove in 2024
The central Hokkaido city of Asahikawa made headlines this year when one of its suburbs was named as the best place to live in Japan — a ranking earned in part due to the community's many outstanding restaurants and cafes.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Members of the Wajima City Morning Market Association pose for a group photograph on the site where the market once stood.
In the wake of disaster, the revival of Wajima's market brings hope
By Alex K.T. Martin

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