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Japan Tobacco's Bright Light 

Japan Tobacco: to buy back Y250 bln of its shares if govt sells 

Japan Tobacco's fiscal-year profit rises 32%  

• Japan Tobacco to Break Free of Government 

Japan Tobacco Inc, the world's third-largest tobacco company by sales volume, will for the first time install top management that aren't former bureaucrats, the WSJ reports. The company, half-owned by the Japanese government, is hoping to become a more efficient company in order to compete with competitors including British American Tobacco PLC and Philip Morris International Inc. The government is also planning to cut its holding in the company, in part to raise funds for post-quake reconstruction.

Since 1985, at least one of the posts of president and chief executive has been held by a former finance ministry official. Japan Tobacco's incoming chairman Hiroshi Kimura said, however, that there was no deliberate intention to not employ ex-bureaucrats in the post.

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Japan Tobacco Nominates New Top Management ($$) 

Japan Tobacco, Torii report positive top-line results from Phase III Zerenex study  

Japan Tobacco Considers Emerging-Markets Deals  

CORRECT: Ex-Bureaucrats Exit Japan Tobacco Management Duo As Govt Share Sale Looms  

Japan Tobacco names Koizumi as president  

3rd UPDATE: Ex-Bureaucrats Exit Japan Tobacco Management Duo As Govt Share Sale Looms  

JT Chairman Wakui expected to resign 

Association between a Genome-Wide Association Study-Identified Locus and the Risk of Lung Cancer in Japanese Population 

• Latest research confirms genetic susceptibility to lung cancer 

Previous research has shown that Asian patients with lung cancer are more likely to harbor epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations. Furthermore, Asian patients with lung cancer are more likely to be non-smokers than Western patients with lung cancer. Research in the May 2012 issue of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer's (IASLC) Journal of Thoracic Oncology goes deeper, investigated genetic factors and smoking exposure in Japanese lung cancer patients.

Researchers looked at the genetics of 716 Japanese patients with lung cancer and 716 without. They found, "the variants rs12914385, rs1317286 and rs931794 localized to the CHRNA5-CHRNA3-CHRNB4 cluster on chromosome 15q25 modified the impact of cigarette smoking on lung cancer risk, but showed no statistically significant major effect on the risk of lung cancer." They conclude that there is a significant difference in the impact of smoking on lung cancer risk among former smokers between those with and without genetic risk.

The study also suggests that "a suggestive difference in the impact of rs16969968 and rs8034191 on the 15q25 loci by EGFR status on lung cancer risk."

The authors conclude that the 15q25 genetic region should be studied further.

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• Annual cigarette sales volume falls below 200 billion for first time 

The number of cigarettes sold in Japan in fiscal 2011 dropped 6 percent from the previous year to 197.5 billion, dropping below 200 billion for the first time since statistics were first kept in 1990, the Tobacco Institute of Japan has announced.

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• Japan Tobacco International Opens Caucasus Regional Office in Georgia 

Japan Tobacco International has opened its office for the Caucasus region in Georgia.

The market in the region is growing quite rapidly and the company needs their management team to be close to the market, according to Martin Braddock, JTI Regional President for the CIS+, Romania and Adriatic Region.

“There were several reasons for this decision,” Braddock said. “First of all, the investment and business climate here in Georgia is quite attractive and perspective. We see lots of talented people in Georgia and this is another important reason for opening a regional office in Georgia. The quality of resources available in the country in terms of office, people, and professional skills is quite high.”

JTI was working on opening a regional office in Georgia for a year with the intensive assistance of the Georgian Government.

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