Daily Brief Japan: Kyowa Kirin Co Ltd, Pan Pacific International Holdings, Nikkei 225 and more

In today’s briefing:

Kyowa Kirin (4151 JP): Reports Phase 3 Trial Result in Atopic Dermatitis; Rivalry Remains Doubtful
Governance and Shareholder Return Are Likely to Improve, and Investors Continue to Pay Attention
EQD | The Nikkei At The Top

Kyowa Kirin (4151 JP): Reports Phase 3 Trial Result in Atopic Dermatitis; Rivalry Remains Doubtful

Kyowa Kirin Co Ltd (4151 JP) announced top-line results of the Phase 3 trial of rocatinlimab targeting moderate to severe Atopic Dermatitis (eczema), which affects 6.6M patients in the U.S.
The trial met co-primary endpoints and reached statistically significant differences from placebo for all key secondary endpoints. However, efficacy data was less compelling compared to current standard of care.
Kyowa Kirin shares nosedived mainly on the concern over competitive strength of rocatinlimab. Amid gloomy outlook, Kyowa Kirin shares will need time to recover.

Since the total shares held by Founder Family, trust Banks and FamilyMart exceed 50%, this director appointment proposal will pass unless the shareholders held by the trust banks oppose it.
Challenges will be noted in the function of the nominating committee, which nominated directors with few elements falling under the skills item, and in the disclosure of the skills matrix.
While PPIH’s free cash flow is ample and growth is expected, shareholder returns and governance remain challenges, but with overseas investor equity exceeding 30%, much improvement is expected in future.

The last 2 weeks’ upswing in the Nikkei 225 INDEX does not change our view: it is WEEKLY overbought and October is a coin flip according to our seasonal models.
The index could rise further at this point, herd behavior may force investors to pile up into the rally, but our models say rising well past 40k will be hard.
A pullback is not necessarily a great occasion to buy, as already explained in our previous insight, the N225’s trend does not look good, at the moment.

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