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July 02, 2026
 

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PHARMACEUTICALS

Takeda Pharmaceutical is targeting a return on equity of at least 5% over that time, the company's newly appointed Chief Executive Officer Julie Kim said at her first news conference after assuming the top job this week.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 26, 2026
Takeda sees return to growth within three years, new CEO says
The company is targeting a return on equity of at least 5% over that time, Julie Kim said at her first news conference after assuming the top job this week.
A Pfizer logo is shown at a research facility in San Diego, California. Cancer patients given the Phizer drug sigvotatug vedotin didn’t live significantly longer than those given standard therapy.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 23, 2026
Pfizer’s lung cancer drug trial fails to boost survival
Patients given the drug, called sigvotatug vedotin, didn’t live significantly longer than those given standard therapy.
Yasuo Urata, the president and CEO of Oncolys BioPharma, said in an interview Wednesday in Tokyo that he wants to develop treatments that improve the quality of life for patients.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 18, 2026
Oncolys president reflects on long journey to world-first cancer treatment
Yasuo Urata hopes the newly approved viral therapy will improve quality of life for esophageal cancer patients.
A cyber extortion group has claimed that pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk refused the group's demand of $25 million after stealing more than a terabyte of data from the company.
BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2026
Hacking group claims major attack of Novo Nordisk and attempted $25 million extortion
FulcrumSec, a cyber extortion group that emerged in October 2025, has said in a message ‌posted online that it spent more than two months in Novo Nordisk’s ​networks stealing data.
A surgeon fills a syringe with Eli Lilly's Mounjaro, a tirzepatide injection drug used for treating type 2 diabetes and weight loss.
JAPAN / Science & Health / EXPLAINER
Jun 10, 2026
‘Thinness equals beauty’: Mounjaro misuse among women sparks health debate in Japan
The nation is one of the leanest in the world, making the misuse of the diabetes drug simply for weight loss that much more alarming.
Toru Miyazaki, president and director of the Institute for AIM Medicine, talks about a drug to treat kidney diseases in cats at his lab in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 9, 2026
Cat renal disease drug nearing practical use in Japan
Many cat owners are waiting in anticipation for the drug to be put into practical use.
Mounjaro, a diabetes medication also known as a weight-loss drug, on display in Osaka on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 2, 2026
Osaka police refer three to prosecutors over ‘weight-loss’ drug Mounjaro
All three suspects have admitted to selling the drug in violation of the pharmaceutical and medical devices law, investigative sources said.
Health workers prepare medicine for patients with Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on May 22.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 2, 2026
Moderna and other groups get $60 million to develop Ebola vaccine
Richard Hatchett, head of CEPI, said that it was possible to get Ebola Bundibugyo (BDBV) vaccines ready for trials within a couple of months.
Health minister Kenichiro Ueno at an Upper House plenary session following the passage of a bill to reform the nation's health care insurance system
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 29, 2026
Japan passes bill to raise co-payments for prescription drugs similar to OTC counterparts
The health ministry plans to require individuals to bear additional costs for some 1,100 over-the-counter-like prescription drugs starting in March 2027.
The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday handed a one-year prison sentence to the Japan Cosmetic Association’s head for bribery linked to joint research with the University of Tokyo.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 26, 2026
Japan Cosmetic Association head guilty of bribing University of Tokyo researchers
The Tokyo District Court sentenced Koichi Hikichi to one year in prison for bribery linked to joint research with the university.
A building housing the health ministry in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 22, 2026
Kissei ordered to add warning over vasculitis drug after fatalities
Twenty patients who took Tavneos, a drug for blood vessel inflammation, later died after developing liver dysfunction.
Viranchi Shah, spokesperson for India's Drug Manufacturers' Association, the largest industry body of Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers, speaks during an interview in Ahmedabad, India.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2026
Indian pharma fuels Africa’s ‘zombie drug’ and opioid crisis
Customs records show millions of dollars’ worth of the high-strength synthetic opioid being shipped from India every month to Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Ghana.
Takeda Pharmaceutical headquarters in Tokyo. The company said it will "vigorously pursue" an appeal after a U.S. jury on Monday found the company liable for causing about $885 million in damages by delaying a generic version of its constipation drug through an anticompetitive scheme.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 19, 2026
Takeda engaged in antitrust scheme to delay generic constipation drug: U.S. jury
The verdict is the ​first time ‌a jury has found a pharmaceutical company liable in class-action litigation over what is called a “pay-for-delay” agreement with generic rivals.
Health minister Kenichiro Ueno speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 19, 2026
Japan supplies antiviral drug to U.K. in response to hantavirus
The U.K. Health Security Agency accepted delivery of the drug, which remains experimental for use to treat hantavirus.
Amgen headquarters in Thousand Oaks, California. Kissei Pharmaceutical, which sells Amgen's drug Tavneos in Japan, is recommending that doctors stop prescribing it, adding to pressure on the company over a medicine that’s attracted scrutiny from health regulators worldwide.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 16, 2026
Amgen’s Tavneos discouraged by Japanese partner after deaths
Twenty people in Japan died after taking Tavneos, though it’s unclear whether the drug killed those people, a media report said.
The government hopes to reduce medical expenses by asking people to pay more for prescription drugs similar to those that can be purchased at drugstores.
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 15, 2026
Co-payment to reach 50% for prescription drugs similar to OTC ones in Japan
The current medical system has been criticized for allowing drugs that could be replaced by over-the-counter alternatives to be bought for cheaper through public health insurance.
Jun Tsuyama, a lecturer at the Institute of Science Tokyo, speaking Wednesday during a news conferenceat the university in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward. During the event, Tsuyama explained that a candidate drug capable of sustaining the period for potential recovery after a stroke has been developed in mice.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 14, 2026
Japan team identifies drug candidate that may extend recovery after stroke
The period during which motor functions lost due to a stroke can be recovered is currently limited to about two months.
Shionogi's pharmaceutical research center in the city of Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture. The firm's COVID-19 pill cut the risk of infection among people exposed to the disease at home, according to a recent study.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 14, 2026
Shionogi pill prevents COVID-19 in household exposure study
The results mark the first late-stage success for an oral antiviral used to prevent COVID-19 after exposure.
IPS cells cultured by Sumitomo Pharma
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 13, 2026
Health panel approves coverage for iPS cell-derived Parkinson’s disease treatment
The approval of Sumitomo Pharma’s Amchepry makes it the world’s first commercialized medical product derived from iPS cells.
"The next five years are critical in defining Daiichi Sankyo’s future,” CEO Hiroyuki Okuzawa said Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 12, 2026
Daiichi Sankyo bets on new cancer drugs to fuel future growth
The Japanese drugmaker aims to more than double oncology revenue to above ¥2.3 trillion by 2030 and become one of the world’s top five oncology players by 2035.
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men’s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men's restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.

Podcast

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

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
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