On May 31, 2021 Eisai Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, CEO: Haruo Naito, "Eisai") and ITO EN, LTD. (Headquarters: Tokyo, President: Daisuke Honjo, "ITO EN") reported that both parties have entered into a business alliance agreement concerning the initiatives for supporting people living with and preventing dementia with the aim of realizing a healthy and long-lived society (Press release, Eisai, MAY 31, 2021, View Source [SID1234583295]).

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Through this alliance, Eisai and ITO EN aim to contribute to the solution of dementia, which is one of the important social issues, with integrating Eisai’s wealth of experience and knowledge in drug creation and disease awareness activities in the area of dementia, as well as Eisai’s solution measures such as digital technology, and ITO EN’s customer network through its community-based sales activities, as well as ITO EN’s problem-solving project related to cognitive function based on abundant research on Matcha (powdered green tea). The specific initiatives planned are as follows.

1. Providing the packaged solution

As support for holding seminars on exercise and food related to dementia disease awareness and brain health by local governments for residents, the packaged solution plans to be provided through ITO EN’s 186 business offices nationwide. The packaged solution includes Eisai’s information materials for disease awareness, opportunities for checking brain performance using Eisai’s brain performance (brain-health) self-check tool "NouKNOWTM" (pronounced "NOH-NOH", non-medical equipment), and ITO EN ‘s information and services related to Matcha and health.

2. Providing a set of products focusing on brain health

A set product which includes the Foods with Function Claims "Oi Ocha OMATCHA POWDER (stick 1.7g x 32)" produced by ITO EN, a prepaid card that can be used for "NouKNOW" and Eisai’s information materials related to brain health will be distributed in Japan.

3. Providing an opportunity to check brain performance at events and campaigns hosted by ITO EN

At the events and campaigns hosted by ITO EN, participants will be provided with the information on brain health and the opportunity to check brain performance using "NouKNOW".

4. Initiation of brain performance check trial internally at ITO EN, towards the future utilization of brain performance checks in corporate health examinations

As a trial for the utilization of "NouKNOW" in corporate health examinations, verification of the effects of health consciousness and behavioral changes based on regular brain performance checks among willing ITO EN employees has been ongoing.

Eisai, which aims to eliminate the diverse anxieties of each individual (The People) by constructing a dementia ecosystem through coexisting with other industries and organizations, and ITO EN, which explores the potential of tea and aims to be a health creation company that contributes to the era of 100 years of life, will promote co-creation of value toward the realization of a healthy and long-lived society so that people can lead a happy life in their own way by combining the strengths of both company.

On May 31, 2021 Genmab A/S (Nasdaq: GMAB) reported the initiation of a share buy-back program to mitigate dilution from warrant exercises and to honor our commitments under our Restricted Stock Units program (Press release, Genmab, MAY 31, 2021, View Source [SID1234583294]).

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The share buy-back program is expected to be completed no later than June 30, 2021 and comprises up to 200,000 shares.

The following transactions were executed under the program from May 24, 2021 to May 28, 2021:

Details of each transaction are included as an appendix to this announcement.

Following these transactions, Genmab holds 254,206 shares as treasury shares, corresponding to 0.39% of the total share capital and voting rights.

The share buy-back program is undertaken in accordance with Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 (‘MAR’) and the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052, also referred to as the "Safe Harbour Regulation." Further details on the terms of the share buy-back program can be found in our company announcement no. 11 dated February 23, 2021.

On May 31, 2021 Constellation Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: CNST), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company using its expertise in epigenetics to discover and develop novel therapeutics, reported that the Company will participate in an upcoming virtual investor conference (Press release, Constellation Pharmaceuticals, MAY 31, 2021, View Source [SID1234583293]). Jigar Raythatha, president and chief executive officer, will present at the Jefferies Virtual Healthcare Conference at 3:00 PM EDT on June 3 . Live audio webcast of Mr. Raythatha’s presentation and archives for replay will be available on the Investor Relations section of Constellation’s website at View Source The audio webcast replays will be available for 90 days following the live presentation.

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On May 31, 2021 Kuraray Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Hitoshi Kawahara; hereinafter "Kuraray") reported that it has published the Kuraray Report 2021, an integrated report (A4 size, 52 pages, full color) (Press release, Kuraray, MAY 31, 2021, View Source [SID1234583292]).
The aim of the Kuraray Report is to help shareholders, investors, and all other stakeholders better understand the value that the Kuraray Group creates over the medium to long term by providing a comprehensive overview of financial and non-financial information, including environmental, social and governance data.

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On May 31, 2021 Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (TOKYO: 4519) reported its introduction of the first cryo-electron microscopy (Cryo-EM) system in the Japanese pharmaceutical industry to further accelerate drug discovery research (Press release, Chugai, MAY 31, 2021, View Source [SID1234583291]).

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The cryo-EM, for which the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2017 was awarded, has been drawing attentions as an innovative technology. The system was introduced for the structural analysis of drug candidate molecules bound to target proteins, which is an essential process in drug discovery research.

Chugai places great emphasis on Structure-Based Drug Design in its drug discovery research, and aims to create quality drug candidate compounds by pursuing precise structure design. X-ray crystallographic analysis, which we have primarily used to obtain molecular structure, requires crystallization of the intracellular protein which a drug candidate targets. The mid-size molecule drug which Chugai focuses on mainly targets such proteins that are difficult to crystallize, which has posed a challenge in the refinement of compound design.

As the cryo-EM does not require the crystallization process, it enables structure analysis of a wider range of molecules including intracellular proteins that are difficult to crystallize, as well as significantly improving research efficiency. We hope that it will enhance our Structure Based Drug Design capability and increase the success rate of compound development. This system we introduced is provided by Thermo Fisher Scientific, and installed at Kamakura research laboratories for the structural analysis of a variety of drug candidate compounds including mid-size molecule drugs.

"The introduction of cryo-EM is expected to greatly transform Chugai’s drug discovery process. It will further enhance the quality and speed of Structure Based Drug Design, and accelerate the discovery of mid-size molecule drugs which we aim to establish as the third modality," said Dr. Osamu Okuda, Chugai’s President and CEO. "Chugai’s drug discovery is supported by its unique scientific and technological capabilities. We will continue to rigorously adopt advanced technologies to realize innovations that contribute to resolve unmet medical needs."

About cryo electron microscopy (Cryo-EM)

Cryo-electron microscopy (Cryo-EM) is a powerful biophysical technique that allows researchers to visualize molecular assemblies at near-atomic resolution. With the rapid technological advancements, structural elucidation of biological molecules such as protein has been rapidly increased, in particular for intractable biological molecules by existing methods such as X-ray crystallography and NMR technique.

Cryo-EM has been recently applied in the pharmaceutical industry around the world due to its ability to accurately and rapidly visualize the intricate interactions between drug and receptor, enabling informed, accelerated drug discovery and structure based drug design.