A roundup of the most important stories coming out of Japan’s pharma industry, including the sharp increase in deaths linked to Kobayashi supplements; the partnership between Moderna and Mitsubishi Tanabe to jointly promote Moderna’s mRNA respiratory vaccine portfolio; the country’s move to to support domestic antibiotics production; Takeda’s licenscing agreement with Ascentage Pharma; Kyowa Kirin’s new US biologics facility, and Sumitomo Pharma’s wave of workforce reductions.
Dozens more deaths may be linked to Kobayashi Pharmaceutical’s supplements (The Japan Times)
The health ministry revealed on Friday that there have been dozens more deaths potentially linked to beni kōji (red yeast rice) supplements sold by Kobayashi Pharmaceutical, in addition to the five that had been previously confirmed. Investigations for three cases have already been completed and no causal relationship with the supplements could be confirmed. The other 76 cases are still being probed.
Although the ministry had required the company to report to the public the number of cases in which negative health impacts were linked to the supplement, Kobayashi had not updated the death toll since it rose to five on March 29. The ministry told the company to confirm the death toll on June 13, but Kobayashi only said that “there were cases under investigation” and did not report the new numbers until Friday.
Blackstone selling Japan drugmaker Alinamin to MBK Partners (Reuters)
Moderna, Mitsubishi Tanabe To Co-Promote MRNA Respiratory Vaccines In Japan, Incl. COVID-19 Vaccine (Nasdaq)
Japan to subsidize antibiotics supply chain to reduce China exposure (Nikkei Asia)
Japan will soon move to support the domestic antibiotics industry as part of public and private efforts to reduce the supply chain’s heavy exposure to China. The measures will include subsidies to makers of active ingredients. A government purchasing scheme is also planned. The new program will be created as early as the current fiscal year.
Japanese companies make finished antibiotics products at home. But making active ingredients is too expensive in Japan, and production of them is generally handled abroad.
Ascentage Pharma Receives $100M Option Payment from Takeda (Contract Pharma)
Ascentage Pharma, a global biopharmaceutical company engaged in discovering, developing and commercializing both first-in-class and best-in-class therapies for hematological malignancies, has received the $100 million option payment in relation to the Exclusive Option Agreement with Takeda for the third-generation BCR-ABL inhibitor olverembatinib (HQP1351).
Ascentage Pharma and Takeda entered into an Exclusive Option Agreement that granted Takeda an exclusive option to enter into an exclusive license agreement for olverembatinib. The Exclusive Option Agreement calls for Ascentage Pharma to receive an option payment of $100 million and provides for Ascentage Pharma to be eligible for an option exercise fee and additional potential milestone payments of up to approximately $1.2 billion and double-digit royalties on annual sales.
Takeda To Keep Pushing for China Biotech Partnerships, CEO Says (Bloomberg)
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. will keep up efforts to forge partnerships with Chinese biotech companies, as the drugmaker scouts for promising drug candidates to bolster its pipeline, Chief Executive Officer Christophe Weber said.
The Japanese pharmaceutical company recently struck a deal with Ascentage Pharma Group International that gives it an option to market a therapy for blood cancer globally. This follows approval in the US and Europe for another cancer drug called Fruzaqla Takeda licensed from Hutchmed China Ltd. “We should remain very open of potential partnerships with Chinese biotech,” Weber said in an interview.
Kyowa Kirin Biologics Manufacturing Plant, North Carolina, USA (Pharmaceutical Technology)
Kyowa Kirin, a pharmaceutical company based in Japan, will build a new biologics manufacturing facility in Sanford, North Carolina, expanding its worldwide manufacturing presence in North America.
The facility will produce cutting-edge biologic therapies, such as next-generation antibodies, for the company’s upcoming clinical trials and future commercial purposes. It will help in establishing more robust and efficient supply chains that can better withstand changing global dynamics.
Japan’s Eisai terminates ADC manufacturing pact with BMS (BioSpectrum Asia)
Japan-based pharmaceutical firm Eisai Co. has agreed to end its global strategic collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) for the co-development and co-commercialisation of farletuzumab ecteribulin (FZEC), formerly known as MORAb-202, a folate receptor alpha (FRα)-targeting antibody drug conjugate (ADC) due to ongoing portfolio prioritisation efforts within Bristol Myers Squibb.
Based on the agreement, Eisai now owns all rights to FZEC and will solely conduct the global development and commercialization of the agent.
Japan’s Healios inks stem cells production deal with Astellas Pharma for $8 M (BioSpectrum Asia)
Japan-based Healios K.K. has entered into a license agreement with Astellas Institute for Regenerative Medicine (AIRM), a subsidiary of Astellas Pharma Inc. that investigates novel pluripotent stem cell-derived therapeutic products, concerning the patent on a Retinal Pigment Epithelial (RPE) cells production method shared with RIKEN, National Research and Development Agency in Japan, and Osaka University, National University Corporation in Japan, and the patent on a method for purification of RPE cells shared with Osaka University.
RPE cells have recently attracted attention in the research of regenerative medicine for compensating for a loss or dysfunction due to age-related macular degeneration.
Sumitomo Pharma’s new CEO weighs layoffs in Japan after sharp sales drop, US job cuts (Fierce Pharma)
A recent layoff round affecting 400 U.S. staffers was just the latest in Sumitomo Pharma’s waves of workforce reductions. Now, the Japanese pharma is reportedly weighing layoffs in its home country as revenues slide.
The company’s new CEO and president Toru Kimura, who just took the helm June 25, is weighing a restructuring plan that could be implemented “as soon as this fiscal year,” he told Nikkei Asia.
