Daily Brief Japan: Eisai Co Ltd, giftee Inc, Tokyo Stock Exchange Tokyo Price Index Topix and more

In today’s briefing:

Eisai Co (4523 JP): Alzheimer’s Drug Gets FDA Approval; Focus Is Now on the Path Forward
Giftee: Digital Gifting Surges for Consumer Businesses
A Company Invested by an Activist Should Understand that It’s Not Fully Exploiting Its Potential

Eisai Co (4523 JP): Alzheimer’s Drug Gets FDA Approval; Focus Is Now on the Path Forward

Eisai Co Ltd (4523 JP) received speedy regulatory nod for Alzheimer’s drug LEQEMBI. Treatment with LEQEMBI should be initiated in patients with mild cognitive impairment or dementia stage of disease.
LEQEMBI will be available during or before the week of January 23, 2023. Eisai decided to price LEQEMBI at WAC of $26,500 per year to promote broader patient access.
Eisai has submitted a supplemental Biologics License Application to the FDA supporting the conversion of the Accelerated Approval of LEQEMBI to a traditional approval.

The gift market has contracted in recent years as corporate and formal gift giving has declined, but companies and individuals are enthusiastic adopters of digital gifting thanks to the convenience.
Businesses, in particular, are using eGifts as marketing and promotion tools and Giftee is one of the biggest beneficiaries of this trend.
The convenience and low cost of these services suggests considerable potential for expansion going forward, even if the consumer online gift market will increasingly be owned by LINE.

Since the median P/B of companies listed on TSE is 1.0, Japanese companies will continue to attract the keen attention of activist investors around the world.
Many Japanese managers can rest on their laurels with share prices that don’t command premium because of silent shareholders like cross-holding and BoJ that little care about share price performance.
There are many companies that publish management strategies that only give a sense of doing, and the stock price does not fall but keeps not significantly outperforming.

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