Japan stock market week to Oct 6, 2008

Tokyo nose-dived in the week ended October 6, due to grave concerns about the instability of global financial markets, a slowdown of the economy and a decline of worldwide stock markets, as well as the yen's gain. The Nikkei 225 plummeted 10.8%, to close below the psychologically important 11,000 mark, recording the lowest level in four years and eight months, while the Topix index dropped 11.4%. Investors were discouraged by the Bank of Japan's latest quarterly business sentiment survey, which showed that large manufacturers' business sentiment dropped to minus three from plus five in the previous one, declining for four straight quarters. Another anxiety was about the reported seven-year-high jobless rate in the USA. The positive development was the US government's enactment of the revised financial rescue plan, but players remained doubtful about its feasibility and the extent of its effect. The pharmaceutical index was off just 0.2%, thus outperforming the market.

Takeda inched up 0.2%, on the news of progress in the development of core new products. The company submitted a New Drug Application to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of the orally-disintegrating tablet form of the blockbusdter antidiabetic Actos (pioglitazone). The firm, Japan's largest drugmaker, expects that the new formulation - which can be taken without water - should benefit patients who have difficulty in swallowing. Takeda also filed an NDA with the MHLW for alogliptin (SYR-322), dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor for the treatment of type 2 diabetes (Marketletter October 6). The NDA submission followed a similar filing in the USA as a monotherapy in December 2007 and alogliptin's combination with Actos in September this year. The share performance of Takeda was also helped by its establishment of a wholly-owned subsidiary, Takeda Clinical Research Singapore Private Limited in the Republic of Singapore for the clinical development in the Asia-Oceania region (also reported last week). The company simultaneously established Takeda Pharmaceuticals Asia, a subsidiary which will supervise the overall business activities of five sales and marketing subsidiaries in Asia. These will closely coordinate with the parent company to reinforce global marketing and R&D operations for early launch of new compounds to meet demand in Asian markets.