Japan stock market week to March 16, 2009

Tokyo rebounded after a four-week losing streak in the week ended March 16. The Nikkei 225 advanced 8.7%, recovering the 7,700 level, while the  Topix index rose 4.4%. Players were encouraged by some better news,  which helped alleviate excessive pessimism about the global economy. A  positive event was the meeting held in the UK over the weekend of the  Group of 20 nations' finance ministers, which generated an expectation  that leading countries will step up measures to cope with economic and  financial problems. Another favorable development was the move by the  Japanese government to work out an additional economic stimulus package.  The pharmaceutical index was down 1.6%, underperforming the market.

Dainippon Sumitomo rallied with a 3.5% rise, after it launched Trerief  (zonisamide), for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, in Japan.  Zonisamide has been marketed as an epilepsy treatment under the brand  name Excegran since 1989, while the company began clinical trials  targeting PD in 2001. The approved indication is Trerief's use when  sufficient effects cannot be achieved with other anti-Parkinson's agents  besides a standard therapy of a levodopa-containing drug. Clinical  trials showed Trerief's effects in improving movement ability of  patients but, based on the anticipated use of the drug for the  third-line therapy, the company expects that Trerief will have a modest  turnover of 1.1 billion yen ($11.2 million) in the fiscal year ending  March 2010 and 5.4 billion yen at peak around FY 2018.

Ono Pharmaceutical rose 1.8%, reflecting that it had entered into the  drug-discovery agreement targeting ion channels with Xention of the UK.  The latter will apply its ion-channel drug discovery platform to design  small-molecule drug candidates that have activity against ion channels  selected by Ono or ones of pathophysiological importance. The Japanese  firm will undertake clinical trials and commercialize compounds for the  global market. Based on the deal, Ono will make an upfront payment,  supply funding for the two-year research program and pay success-based  milestones.