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☆ Activist Nihon Global puts forth ideas to build shareholder value at noodle giant Toyo Suisan
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Kenneth Squire | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

Toyo Suisan has consistently outperformed Nissin Foods in North America, one of the most profitable and fastest-growing markets in the world. It generally starts with shareholder proposals that by regulation can only address specific issues, such as capital allocation and dividends. Last year, 3% of corporate governance shareholder proposals were passed and 4% of balance sheet-based shareholder proposals were passed. First, it shows the opportunities available to activists in Japan where reasonable shareholder proposals could lead to significant shareholder value creation. Brian Doyle of Nihon Global and his team are a good example of this.

Persons: Toyo Suisan, Toyo Suisan's, Nissin, Nihon, hasn't, Judge Chamberlain Haller, Vinny, Nihon Global's, Brian Doyle, Hiroyuki Otsuka, Carlyle, Ken Squire Organizations: Toyo, Nihon Global Growth Partners Management, Nihon Global, Nihon, Nissin, Foods, Nissin Foods, Tokyo Stock Exchange, U.S, White, Newton Investment Management, 13D Locations: Japan, Toyo, North America, Mexico, U.S, American, United States, Asia

☆ FDA clears first digital treatment for depression, but experts caution that research is still early
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Mira Cheng | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —The US Food and Drug Administration is allowing the use of Rejoyn, the first prescription digital treatment for major depressive disorder. About 18% of American adults – more than 1 in 6 – say they are depressed or receiving treatment for depression, a 2023 Gallup report found. Rejoyn is designed to serve as an adjunct to antidepressants for these partial responders, according to the news release. They were assigned to use either the Rejoyn app or a sham app that gave memory tasks that did not involve cognitive-emotional training or cognitive behavioral therapy. There is also the question of how engaged patients will be with the app, Torous said.

Persons: Rejoyn, Dr, John Kraus, Otsuka, Brian Iacoviello, John Torous, Torous, ”, ” Otsuka, Sanjay Gupta, “, ” Torous Organizations: CNN, Food and Drug Administration, Otsuka Pharmaceutical, Therapeutics, Gallup, Research, Click Therapeutics, Digital Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical, FDA, ” Otsuka Pharmaceutical, CNN Health

☆ What’s it like to dine at Asia’s ‘best’ restaurant?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Chris Dwyer | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

But his career and trajectory have always been defined by global experience, exposure and a passion for embracing other cultures and cuisines. Back in 2006, Australian Chef Shane Osborn of Hong Kong’s acclaimed Arcane hired Calvert to work at his two Michelin-starred Pied à Terre restaurant in London. The culinary Holy Grail of Paris followed, with a stint at Epicure, which like Per Se is also a three Michelin-starred restaurant. His global culinary journey continued with a move to Hong Kong and the contemporary Parisian bistro Belon, where he earned the restaurant a Michelin star and reached fourth place on the list of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants. Calvert is happy to modestly take the considerable accolade of the best restaurant in Asia with a pinch of salt, as it were.

Persons: Daniel Calvert, “, ”, It’s, Shane Osborn, Hong Kong’s, Arcane, Calvert, who’ve, ” Osborn, Daniel Calvert's, Chef Thomas Keller’s, Paris, “ I’ve, ” Calvert, Hong, André Fu, morel, SÉZANNE Calvert, Ashley Caley, shima, botan ebi, there’s, sommelier Nobuhide Otsuka, “ I’m, ” Chris Dwyer Organizations: CNN, Champions League, Michelin, Sézanne Locations: Sézanne, “ Tokyo, Marunouchi, Tokyo, London, British, London , New York, Paris, Hong Kong, New York, Epicure, France’s Champagne, Hokkaido, France’s Jura, Yamaguchi Prefecture, morel, bouillon, Asia, @chrismdwyer, Instagram

☆ Japan’s Nikkei hits 34-year high
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Tokyo Reuters —Japan’s Nikkei share average closed at a fresh 34-year high on Tuesday as trading resumed after a long holiday weekend, with tech-related shares and strong corporate earnings supporting the benchmark stock index. The Nikkei climbed 2.89% to 37,963.97 to its highest since January 1990, after briefly breaching 38,000 points. The broader Topix rose 2.12%. Among other top gainers, Tokio Marine Holdings Inc and MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc gained 11% and 10.82%, respectively. As the Nikkei climbs toward its all-time high, the US consumer price index (CPI) report out later on Tuesday will be in focus.

Persons: SoftBank, “, ” JP Morgan, ”, Charu Chanana Organizations: Tokyo Reuters, Japan’s Nikkei, Nikkei, Tokyo, SoftBank, ARM Holding, Tokio Marine Holdings Inc, Insurance, Holdings, CPI, Saxo Markets, Otsuka Holdings Locations: Tokyo

☆ Why Do Evil and Suffering Exist? Religion Has One Answer, Literature Another.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-19 | by ( Ayana Mathis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

After a few months in fly-infested stables converted to bunkhouses, they are herded onto trains that take them to a remote part of Utah. The America the family sees from the window — their country — is exceedingly beautiful, a counterpoint to their grim situation. Late at night, the woman in the family recites the Lord’s Prayer. In Genesis, after Ham sees Noah naked, Noah curses Ham’s son Canaan — falsely identified by later interpreters as a progenitor of Egyptians and other dark-skinned people: “Cursed be Canaan! Today, we are once again witness to mothers wailing over their children’s dead bodies, bombed hospitals — violence and suffering so vast it is unfathomable.

Persons: Shawn Copeland, Ham, Noah, Ham’s, Canaan —, Copeland, ” Organizations: ” Locations: ”, Utah, America

☆ To One Watchmaker, Gears and Pinions Are the Interesting Bits
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( David Belcher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Some watch designers are inspired by the grand beauty and rich history of mechanical watches. But for Jiro Katayama, a Tokyo-based watch designer, it is all about the gears and pinions, elements of the industrial world where he began his career. That influence — from growing up in car-crazy Japan of the 1980s to the instruments he encountered in automotive design school and his jobs with Lexus and other Japanese automakers — helped Mr. Katayama create Otsuka Lotec watches in 2000 as part of a design business, pivoting to just watch production in 2012. During the next 10 years he made 400 watches by himself — the internal mechanisms, cases, hands and dials — but customers had to wait as long as two years for delivery.

Persons: Jiro Katayama, —, Katayama, Otsuka Organizations: Lexus Locations: Tokyo, Japan

☆ US FDA panel votes against use of Medtronic's blood pressure treatment device
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The same panel on Tuesday voted in favor of rival ReCor's device for use in a surgery called renal denervation in patients whose high blood pressure cannot be controlled by drugs. Separately, while all panel members voted the device was safe to use, 6 of 13 voted against its effectiveness. Japan-based Otsuka Holdings' (4578.T) unit ReCor's device was shown to provide a benefit in lowering blood pressure in clinical trials. Medtronic's device helped to lower blood pressure at the doctor's clinic but not at home, which is considered a more accurate measure of blood pressure monitoring. The company was seeking the health regulator's nod for the device indicated for patients whose hypertension, or high blood pressure, cannot be controlled with drugs.

Persons: Andrew Kelly, Jason Weidman, Sriparna Roy, Krishna Chandra Eluri Organizations: Food and Drug Administration, FDA, REUTERS, U.S . Food, Wednesday, Otsuka Holdings, Thomson Locations: White Oak , Maryland, U.S, Japan, Europe, Bengaluru

☆ Japan's Otsuka Pharma gets FDA approval for Alzheimer's agitation drug
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Otsuka Pharmaceutical's (4578.T) brexpiprazole to treat agitation in patients with Alzheimer's on Thursday, making it the first approved drug for the indication, the company said in a statement. Patients with Alzheimer's sometimes show signs of extreme aggression or become restless and anxious as their brain loses its ability to negotiate with new stimulus as a result of the disease. The approval of brexpiprazole is based on two late-stage studies, which showed significant improvement in calming agitated patients with Alzheimer's, when compared with a placebo. Brexpiprazole, co-developed with Danish drugmaker Lundbeck (HLUNb.CO), was previously approved in the U.S. to treat adults with major depressive disorder and schizophrenia. Reporting by Aditya Samal; Editing by Shounak DasguptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Farallon steps up activism at biotech company Exelixis. Here’s what could happen next
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Kenneth Squire | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Farallon is not an activist investor but will pursue an activist agenda when it feels forced to do so. As the strategy of shareholder activism has become more mainstream, it has been utilized by a larger breadth of investors. The firm has been a shareholder of Exelixis since 2018 and is just now going public with their concerns. Farallon would also like to see Exelixis commit to a much larger share repurchase program than the $550 million it has announced. Farallon is nominating only three directors to this board, and it befuddles us as to how Exelixis does not see this as a gift.

☆ 9 psychedelics startups that are winning over top venture investors
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Yeji Jesse Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Generally, mainstream investors have avoided companies developing psychedelic compounds. Despite raising hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years to develop psychedelic compounds like psilocybin through clinical trials, startups operating in the space have struggled to gain momentum among biotech investors and other venture firms. However, a handful of companies have successfully garnered funding and interest from mainstream investors. Psychedelics companies, including Atai Life Sciences, Compass Pathways, and Mindset Pharma have all received backing from Otsuka, a Japanese pharmaceutical company. Here are the psychedelics startups that have won over mainstream investors, listed in alphabetical order:

☆ Japan's Nidec lines up five execs as chairman contenders
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, March 13 (Reuters) - Japanese electric motor company Nidec Corp (6594.T) on Monday lined up five contenders to eventually take the reins as chairman from the firm's no-nonsense 78-year-old founder, Shigenobu Nagamori. Nidec said its board of directors had on Friday decided to name five people Executive Vice Presidents (EVP) from April 1. After serving four years as President, this person will be appointed as Chairman, Nidec said, as it seeks to bring an end to the saga. "I will gradually move away from work after that," Nagamori told reporters during an online news conference on Monday. Toshiyuki Otsuka, Tatsuya Nishimoto, Yoshihisa Kita, Toshihiko Koseki and Mitsuya Kishida were the five named as EVPs.

☆ The CEO of a psychedelics giant that just suffered a big setback lays out why investors should bet on his long-term vision
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Yeji Jesse Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

PCN-101, a ketamine-based treatment, failed to help people with treatment-resistant depression. CEO Florian Brand said he thinks investors should bet on the company's long-term vision. Florian Brand, the CEO of the psychedelics giant Atai Life Sciences, said investors should look past the company's recent failed clinical trial and bet on his long-term vision for the company. On January 6, Atai announced that a highly anticipated trial of a ketamine-based depression treatment failed to meet its goals. The company also owns a large stake in the psychedelics company Compass Pathways, which is currently in late-stage trials to develop psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient found in magic mushrooms, for treatment-resistant depression.

☆ Compass Pathways' new CEO says data from his firm's upcoming clinical trial could finally persuade Big Pharma to jump into the psychedelics industry
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Yeji Jesse Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Compass Pathways is set to start its biggest clinical trial yet by the end of this year. But that may soon change as more data around the effectiveness of psychedelics as treatments emerges, according to Kabir Nath, the new CEO of the psychedelics company Compass Pathways. He joined Compass Pathways from the Japanese pharmaceutical company Otsuka in August and led Otsuka's investment into Compass Pathways during the company's $80 million Series B round in 2019. At the time of Otsuka's initial investment into Compass Pathways, the psychedelics industry was relatively new and the potential around such treatments was still not well known. In 2019, the Food and Drug Administration approved a ketamine-based treatment called Spravato for treatment-resistant depression that was developed by Johnson & Johnson's Janssen.

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