In Japan, there are already thousands confirmed dead in the aftermath of what will go down in history as the Great Sendai Quake. Many more thousands are still unaccounted for, hundreds of thousands have been displaced. There are not even estimates yet as to the trillions in direct property damage, and as for the Japanese economy…
Against this background there is astounding news, and actually I read it twice before I could quite believe it: Yesterday Astellas Pharma Inc., one of Japan’s major pharma companies, has submitted a Japanese marketing application for a new drug — bixalomer, a phosphate binder for use in dialysis patients. ( Asahi Simbun article)
IMHO, nothing illustrates the Japanese mentality better than this action. This people will not be daunted by the most devastating earthquake in recorded history. After having lost a war, being nuked twice within a few days, Japan surrendered but carried straight on to become (for a relatively brief period) the world’s second-largest economy. Japan will also survive what happened on March 11 (and whatever might come from the aftermath at the nuclear power plants).
Japan is also the world’s second largest pharma market and although its companies have been severely hit, none has taken a deadly blow. Japanese subsidiaries of U.S. and European companies also seem to have things under control, in spite of severe damage and some loss of life among their staff ( pharmalive.com article). There is no information yet concerning development-related data lost in the mayhem – data that could have saved lives and prevented suffering later – and we will probably never learn about this. But Japan’s pharmaceutical and biotech industry will also carry on. You can see this even now. Bravo Astellas!