Aug 22 (Reuters) - A Japanese health ministry panel on Monday recommended approval of the Alzheimer's disease treatment Leqembi, following standard approval for the drug granted by U.S. regulators last month.
The expert panel's decision sets the stage for official approval of the drug, co-developed by Japan's Eisai (4523.T) and U.S.-based Biogen (BIIB.O).
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Japan’s position on its handling of World Cultural Heritage sites, including Gunkanjima (Battleship Island) in Nagasaki City, has been upheld by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, which rejected South Korea’s demand for a renewed review of Japan’s efforts.
A major eruption occurred at Shinmoedake, part of the Kirishima mountain range straddling Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures, marking the volcano’s first eruption in seven years. The eruption came as a series of earthquakes continued in the Tokara Islands.
While visiting Mongolia, the Emperor of Japan toured a water facility in Ulaanbaatar that receives support from Japan.
As Japan's Upper House election approaches, party leaders debated whether restrictions should be placed on foreign property ownership. Amid soaring housing prices—especially in Tokyo where secondhand condominium prices now exceed 100 million yen—seven of the eight major political parties expressed support for some form of regulation on foreign homebuyers.
The Emperor and Empress have arrived in Mongolia for their first official visit to the country as Japan’s imperial couple.
Aiming to revive Japan's status as a semiconductor powerhouse, Hoshikawa Naohisa, CEO of Okuma Diamond Devices, is leading the development of what is being called the "ultimate semiconductor"—a diamond-based device capable of withstanding extreme heat and radiation.
A flying car demonstration at the Osaka-Kansai Expo, which had been suspended due to a mid-flight incident, is expected to resume soon.
A next-generation neutrino observation facility, the Hyper-Kamiokande, was unveiled to the media on June 28th in Hida City, Gifu Prefecture. Located 600 meters underground in the Kamioka area, it is a new experimental facility of the University of Tokyo's Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, designed to detect neutrinos emitted from a research center 295 kilometers away in Ibaraki Prefecture.
H2A Rocket No. 50, the final unit of Japan’s long-running flagship launch vehicle series, was successfully launched in the early hours of June 29th from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture.
SoftBank announced on June 26th that it will begin pre-commercial services next year for its airborne mobile base station known as HAPS (High Altitude Platform Station), with plans to expand the service nationwide by 2026.
A fossil on permanent display at a museum in Shinonsen, Hyogo Prefecture, has been identified as a new species and confirmed to be the world’s largest butterfly fossil.
A state-of-the-art IBM quantum computer, one of the world’s most advanced models and the first of its kind installed outside the United States, has begun operation at RIKEN in Kobe, where it will be integrated with Japan's Fugaku supercomputer to advance hybrid computing research.
In Fukushima Town, located in southern Hokkaido, a massive surge in rodent populations is causing widespread damage to rice and other crops. The situation has become so severe that home centers are struggling to keep up with demand for rodent traps, with shelves completely emptied and supply chains unable to restock in time.
