Increases in employee numbers often go hand-in-hand with valuation rises as companies are acquired or product success demand increases in sales staff or manufacturing capacity. However, this is not always the case.  

Japanese regulatory authorities have announced a set of additional reimbursement price cuts for selected products in August, under which Novartis’s heart failure drug Entresto will see its price slashed by 15%. A batch of other newly approved drugs has also been priced.

Amid positive ongoing forex impact, Astellas, Shionogi and Daiichi Sankyo logged solid fiscal years and Chugai has good growth in its first quarter, although some of the majors are expecting a decline in sales as demand due to COVID-19 wanes. Even so, Shionogi logged record results on the back on government procurement of its pandemic antiviral.