Healthcare

November 2005

5 Of Top 6 Drugmakers Post Higher Profits On Sales Abroad
Five out of six major pharmaceutical firms have reported year-on-year growth in group net profit for the fiscal first half ended Sept. 30, thanks to higher profits outside Japan. Astellas Pharma Inc. said Monday that interim group pretax profit came to 122 billion yen, up 21% from the combined group pretax profit of Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co. and Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co. a year earlier, before they merged to create Astellas. Thanks to strong sales of the Prograf immunosuppressant in the U.S. and Europe, net profit jumped 42% to 67.3 billion yen despite 9.2 billion yen in merger-related write-offs. Daiichi Sankyo Co., born from the merger of Daiichi Pharmaceutical Co. and Sankyo Co., saw interim group net profit come to 49.4 billion yen -- up 1% from their pre-merger combined pretax profit a year earlier. Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.'s group net profit for the first half was up 11% on the year at 181.2 billion yen. Eisai Co. reported 9% growth in group net profit to 30.1 billion yen. At Shionogi & Co., group net profit gained 2% to 8.3 billion yen, buoyed by a rise in licensing fee revenue for its hyperlipidemia product from overseas drugmakers. Tanabe Seiyaku Co., which depends more on the domestic market than other five, suffered a 4% drop in net profit to 8.1 billion yen. For the full fiscal year, Astellas forecasts a 97% rise in group net profit to 117 billion yen and plans to hike its annual dividend payout to 70 yen -- 10 yen above its earlier projection. Daiichi Sankyo sees group net profit dipping 17% to 71 billion yen because drug substance exports to the U.S. are seen slowing in the second half. (The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, November 8, 2005)

Proof Anticancer Drugs Prolong Human Lives To Be Required By Ministry
The health ministry has decided to require clinical-test proof that anticancer drugs prolong human lives in order for such drugs to gain government approval, ministry officials said Wednesday. Currently, mandatory clinical tests are only required to prove safety and effectiveness in shrinking cancer. The new tests will be required in addition to the existing ones. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has come to the decision because some patients taking anticancer drugs suffer strong side effects while undergoing cancer treatment, and consequently their lives end up not being prolonged, the officials said. The new tests will be required for drugs to treat frequently found cancers such as non-small-cell lung cancer, stomach cancer, colon cancer and breast cancer, beginning next April. Data from clinical tests proving that drugs prolong human lives will have to be submitted for the drugs to gain government approval, the officials said. Data can be obtained either in or outside Japan. During clinical tests, many patients who are taking drugs under development and decoy drugs are monitored for a certain period of time to obtain data for effects and side effects. In order to prevent the new measure from slowing down the approval process, the ministry will approve drugs when it gets proof of safety and cancer-shrinking effect if the effect is remarkable. In such cases, the ministry will ask for submission of test results for life-prolonging effect later to review the approval. Cancer is the most frequent cause of death for Japanese. (Kyodo News, November 2, 2005)