Press Releases for Japan

NSK’s ‘Behind-the-Scenes’ Contribution to Automotive Innovation

Although NSK Ltd. (TOKYO:6471) is Japan’s top and the world’s #3 bearing manufacturer, the Tokyo-based company tends to leave the spotlight to its customers, the world’s leading automotive brands. We work behind the scenes, but customers depend on NSK for endless diligence and innovation in pursuing safety, efficiency, durability and environmental performance in all aspects of “Motion and Control.” In 2014, that diligence resulted in several significant innovations, two of which are outlined below.

Mat Asia Pacific, Canada, Japan, North America

NSK Put Smart Spin on Moving Parts Big and Small in 2014

Unless you are a mechanical engineer, you probably don’t wake up in the morning thinking about bearings. More likely, you never even notice that bearings – working away unseen – are the critical components in everything mechanical that moves: from jumbo-jets to nano-tools, kitchen blenders to concrete mixers. To meet the vast scope of “Motion and Control” needs, NSK (TOKYO:6471) – the world’s #3 bearing manufacturer – must offer over 200,000 different bearings, from microscopic to mammoth. And each year customers bring new challenges to NSK researchers: needs for new bearings to meet specific performance constraints. Here are two challenges that NSK researchers successfully overcame in 2014.

Mat Asia Pacific, Canada, Japan, North America

NEC Launches UNIVERGE® SV9000 Series Communications Servers

NEC Corporation (NEC) (TOKYO: 6701) announced today the launch of the UNIVERGE SV9000 series, its latest line of communications servers. The new offerings include the SV9100, SV9300, and SV9500 platforms, which serve a range of customers from small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) to large enterprise customers. Also being launched are new terminals, including the DT800 and DT400 series, as well as the UT880, an innovative new-generation desk phone integrating a traditional desktop phone and an Android tablet into one device.

Mat Asia Pacific, Canada, Japan, North America

MSD Presents First Phase 3 Data in Japanese Patients for Omarigliptin, an Investigational Once-Weekly DPP-4 Inhibitor for Type 2 Diabetes

MSD, known as Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the United States and Canada, today announced the presentation of the first data from the Phase 3 clinical development program for omarigliptin, MSD’s investigational once-weekly DPP-4 inhibitor for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. In a study in Japanese patients, omarigliptin provided comparable efficacy and tolerability to MSD’s once-daily DPP-4 inhibitor, JANUVIA® (sitagliptin) 50 mg, which is the standard starting dose for sitagliptin in Japan.1 MSD presented these data on omarigliptin, which has been shown to produce sustained DPP-4 inhibition, at an oral session at the 50th European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Annual Meeting.

Mat Asia Pacific, Austria, Canada, Europe, Japan, North America

Murata to Acquire Peregrine Semiconductor for $12.50 Per Share in Cash

Murata Electronics North America, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (TSE/OSE: 6981), and Peregrine Semiconductor Corporation (Peregrine) (NASDAQ: PSMI) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Murata will acquire all outstanding shares of Peregrine not owned by Murata, for $12.50 per share in cash, or a total transaction value of $471 million ($465 million excluding Murata’s existing holding). Peregrine is the founder of RF SOI (silicon on insulator) and pioneer of advanced Radio Frequency (RF) solutions and is a leading provider of RF front-end (RFFE) solutions for mobile and analog applications. Upon closing of the transaction, Peregrine will become part of Murata’s strategy to expand its core business. Peregrine will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Murata and continue with its current business model of solving the world’s toughest RF challenges.

Mat Asia Pacific, Canada, Japan, North America, United States

“Sekai Menu”, Multilingual Menu Display and Ordering Service for Smartphones, Officially Begins Service with Free “Self Plan”

“Sekai Menu”, a smartphone-based service targeted at restaurants and accommodations with foreign customers, began trial service in April 2014. The service, which allows customers to display translated menus and place orders directly from their smartphones, is developed by Sekai Menu, Inc. (Main Office: Sapporo, Japan; Representative Director: Nobuyasu Fukunishi), and will be provided worldwide along with a new “Self Plan” starting June 27, 2014.

Mat Asia Pacific, Canada, Japan, North America

“The 4th LIXIL International University Architectural Competition”University of California, Berkeley’s NEST WE GROW Receives Top Prize

The LIXIL JS Foundation (located in Koto-ku, Tokyo; president: Yoichiro Ushioda), which facilitates surveys and research related to the housing and building materials industries as well as supporting the development of human resources, conducted the 4th LIXIL International University Architectural Competition at the Keidanren Kaikan (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) on April 25, 2014 (Fri). The purpose of the competition is to seek and review next-generation sustainable housing technology and communicating that technology to global society. The top three universities chosen from twelve participating universities in nine countries for the Open Final Screening gave presentations, and University of California, Berkeley’s NEST WE GROW was selected as the winner.

Mat Asia Pacific, Canada, Europe, Japan, North America, Norway, United States

AGC’s Dragontrail™ Now Carried by 37 Electronic Device Brands

AGC, a world-leading supplier of glass, chemicals, ceramics and other high-tech materials and components, today announced that its Dragontrail™ damage- and scratch-resistant glass is now carried by 37 major brands of electronic devices worldwide. Sales of Dragontrail, a specialty glass used as protective cover glass in smartphones and tablets and other electronic devices, have grown 500% since its launch three years ago.

Mat Asia Pacific, Brazil, Canada, Japan, North America, South America

“The 4th LIXIL International University Architectural Competition”Top Three Universities Proceeding to Open Final Screening Announced

The LIXIL JS Foundation (located in Koto-ku, Tokyo; president: Yoichiro Ushioda), which facilitates surveys and research related to the housing and building materials industry as well as supporting the development of human resources, decided upon the following three universities to proceed to the Open Final Screening from the 12 universities in 9 countries after the stringent documentary examination by the jury in the 4th LIXIL International University Architectural Competition held for the purpose of seeking and reviewing next-generation sustainable housing technology and communicating that technology to global society.

Mat Asia Pacific, Canada, Europe, Japan, North America, Norway, United States

Panasonic Launches New eneloop Rechargeable Batteries

Panasonic Energy Europe NV will sell eneloop rechargeable batteries under the Panasonic brand from April 2014. The new product lineup will feature three different types – an eneloop standard model, “eneloop pro” high-end model, and “eneloop lite” entry model. The new eneloop standard model can be recharged up to 2,100 times*2, making it one of the most reusable batteries in the industry*3.

Mat Asia Pacific, Europe, Japan

Rakuten Acquires Viber for $900 million

Rakuten Inc (4755:Tokyo), one of the world’s largest Internet services companies, announced today its acquisition of pioneering messaging and VoIP company, Viber. Rakuten will acquire Viber for a total consideration of $900 million. The acquisition represents another bold step for Rakuten into the digital content space, following its acquisitions of Kobo, Wuaki.tv, and Viki.

Mat Asia Pacific, Japan

LIXIL and DBJ Complete the Acquisition of 87.5 Percent of GROHE Group S.à r.l.

LIXIL Corporation (Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; President and CEO: Yoshiaki Fujimori), and the Development Bank of Japan Inc. (“DBJ”; Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; President and CEO: Toru Hashimoto) have completed the acquisition of 87.5% of the share capital of GROHE Group S.à r.l., one of the world’s leading providers of premium sanitary fittings (Corporate Centre: Düsseldorf, Germany; CEO: David Haines. Hereafter called GROHE).

Mat Asia Pacific, Europe, Germany, Japan

European Medicines Agency (EMA) Accepts Otsuka’s Marketing Authorisation Application (MAA) for Tolvaptan, an Investigational Compound for Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD)

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. announced today that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has accepted the submission of a marketing authorisation application (MAA) for the potential approval of tolvaptan for the treatment of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). Phase III clinical trial results that form the basis of the regulatory filing were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Mat Asia Pacific, Europe, Japan, North America, United States

Osaka Gas Chemicals Agrees to Acquire Jacobi Carbons

Osaka Gas Chemicals Co., Ltd. (“Osaka Gas Chemicals”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Osaka Gas Co., Ltd (TOKYO:9532)(“Osaka Gas”), today announced it has entered into an agreement with AddSorb Holding AB to acquire all the shares of Jacobi Carbons AB (“Jacobi”), the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of coconut shell activated carbon headquartered in Kalmar, Sweden, for an enterprise value of US$ 400 million. The transaction is expected to close in January 2014.

Mat Asia Pacific, Europe, Japan, Sweden

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Completes Acquisition of Astex Pharmaceuticals

Otsuka Holdings Co., Ltd. (“Otsuka Holdings”) announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (“Otsuka Pharmaceutical”), successfully completed, through its wholly-owned indirect subsidiary Autumn Acquisition Corporation, its acquisition of Astex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASTX) (“Astex”) for US $8.50 per share, net to the seller in cash, without interest and less any required withholding taxes. The acquisition was effected through a tender offer (“Tender Offer”), which was commenced on September 13, 2013, New York time and expired at 12:00 midnight, New York time at the end of October 10, 2013, followed by a merger on October 11, 2013.

Mat Asia Pacific, Japan, North America, United States

SonoSite Announces CE Mark for the World’s First Ultrasound Kiosk, the X-Porte

FUJIFILM SonoSite, Inc., specialists in designing cutting-edge ultrasound tools and world-leading education for access to point-of-care visualization, today announced CE mark approval for its newest generation of point-of-care ultrasound: the X-Porte™ Ultrasound Kiosk. Available in a stationary or a detachable use model, SonoSite will begin shipping the X-Porte kiosk effective immediately.

Mat Asia Pacific, Japan, North America, United States

Otsuka Receives Opinion from CHMP on Delamanid

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Otsuka) today announced the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has adopted a negative opinion for delamanid for the treatment of pulmonary multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in combination with an optimised background regimen (OBR) according to WHO guidelines in patients. The CHMP considered that the duration of treatment (two months) in the Phase IIb randomised controlled trial (Trial 204) was too short to establish the effectiveness of delamanid in treating tuberculosis when added to other anti-tuberculosis medicines.

Mat Africa, Asia Pacific, Estonia, Europe, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, North America, Peru, Philippines, South Africa, South America, United States

Takeda and Seattle Genetics Highlight Post-Hoc Analysis Examining Progression-free Survival with ADCETRIS® (brentuximab vedotin) Versus Prior Therapy at the International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE:4502) and Seattle Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SGEN) today announced data from a post-hoc analysis examining progression-free survival (PFS) following treatment with ADCETRIS® (brentuximab vedotin) versus last prior therapy in patients diagnosed with relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) post-autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) or relapsed or refractory systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (sALCL). The data were highlighted during a presentation at the 12th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML) being held June 19–22, 2013 in Lugano, Switzerland.

Mat Asia Pacific, Europe, Japan, Switzerland

Southco Expands SAP ECC 6.0 System Globally under Rimini Street Support

SAP SAPPHIRE NOW 2013 Conference — Rimini Street, Inc., the leading third-party maintenance and support provider for enterprise software, including SAP AG (NYSE:SAP) software and Oracle Corporation’s (NASDAQ: ORCL) Siebel, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, E-Business Suite, Oracle Database and Hyperion software, today announced that Southco, a leading international provider of engineered access hardware, recently completed the initial phase of its strategic SAP global expansion while utilizing Rimini Street for support of its SAP ECC 6.0 system. Like Southco, hundreds of companies around the world are leveraging third-party support from Rimini Street to reduce total support costs by up to 90 percent while continuing to advance the scope, scale and use of its enterprise software to achieve its business objectives. As a result, many Rimini Street clients, including Southco, are able to use their significant savings from third-party support to fund important business and IT improvements that directly affect their ability to better compete in the global marketplace.

Mat Asia Pacific, Australia, China, Europe, Hong Kong, India, Japan, North America, South Korea, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States

Toshiba’s Storage Business Strategy

With the world’s population expected to exceed nine billion by mid-century, the issue of how to make the most of limited energy resources has risen to the top of the global agenda. There is growing recognition that the smart community is an effective way of tackling this pressing issue. Smart communities are environmentally friendly, economic, and achieve stable electricity supply by striking a balance between electricity demand that changes with on the season and the time of day and electricity supply, including power generation using renewables.

Mat Asia Pacific, Japan

ERYTECH Pharma Signs Licensing and Distribution Agreement with Orphan Europe for GRASPA® in Europe

ERYTECH Pharma, a late stage biopharmaceuticals company focused on orphan oncology and rare diseases, announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Orphan Europe, part of the Recordati Group, granting Orphan Europe exclusive rights for the commercialization and distribution of GRASPA® in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) in Europe.

Mat Asia Pacific, Europe, France, Japan

Toys“R”Us, Inc. Strengthens Global E-Commerce Presence with Launch of Dedicated Web Store in China, Mobile Shopping Capabilities Introduced in Additional International Markets

Toys“R”Us, Inc. today announced it has strengthened its global e-commerce capabilities with the launch of a dedicated web store, Toysrus.com.cn, in China. The addition of this site represents a significant step in the company’s plans to grow its presence with physical stores and online operations in Asia. The company has also announced the development of mobile-optimized sites and apps in 11 markets around the world, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, and the U.K. In the coming months, it will introduce the same capabilities in Portugal, Austria and Switzerland, as well as the Netherlands, where it does not currently have a store presence.

Mat Asia Pacific, Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Europe, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, North America, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States