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 Fujifilm has been growing its pharmaceutical division through a
series of mergers and acquisitions as its photography business
wanes. In 2008, it bought Toyama Chemical Co, whose drug Avigan has
been drafted to the global fight against Ebola.
Avigan, approved in Japan earlier this year to counter new forms of
influenza, has been used in France, Germany, Spain and Norway to
treat Ebola patients. Fujifilm had said its Avigan stockpile would
be sufficient to treat 20,000 patients, and it has enough
ingredients to make tablets to treat 300,000 people.
"So far, four Ebola patients have recovered after being treated with
the drug," Fujifilm Chairman and Chief executive Shigetaka Komori
told reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
France and Guinea plan to conduct clinical trials of Avigan 200 mg
tablets in Guinea to treat Ebola this month.
If it proves effective, the drug will likely be approved to treat
Ebola as early as the end of the year, said Takatoshi Ishikawa, who
heads the company's pharmaceutical business.
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is in Beijing for the Asia
Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, said he is committed to
helping fight the Ebola war.
"Ebola is a threat to international peace and stability. Japan will
add up to $100 million in aid, on top of $40 million already
announced," Abe said in Beijing on Tuesday.
"Furthermore, it's been said the drug made by a Japanese drugmaker
is effective, so we'd like to make big contributions on this front,"
he said.
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Fujifilm shares rose 3.2 percent in Tokyo trading on Tuesday to
3,837 yen, the highest close since May 2008.
Fujifilm plans to spend 400 billion to 500 billion yen in M&A deals
over the next three years as it strengthens its healthcare
operation, which consists of medical equipment, drugs and cosmetics
businesses, the company said on Tuesday.
The firm expects to post 220 billion yen in operating profit for the
year ending March 2017. It also expects to return more than 200
billion yen to shareholders through such programs as buying back its
own shares worth 150 billion yen in the next three years.
(Additional reporting by Leika Kihara in BEIJING; Editing by Ryan
Woo)
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