Cheshire drug maker Alexion Pharmaceutical says all of its Japan employees and their families are safe and that it has adequate supplies of its Soliris drug for patients there, a regulatory filing states.
Alexion’s 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission comes in the wake of the Asian nation’s devastating earthquake last Friday and subsequent nuclear fallout.
Alexion’s year-old Japan market is a key one for its patented treatment for a rare and life-threatening blood disease called paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, or PNH, a type of anemia.
Soliris also is approved for use in the U.S., Canada, Australia and Europe, among other places.
The company said in the filing that none of its facilities for storing and distributing the drug are in the affected areas in northeastern Japan. It added it sees no threat to its ability to resupply Japan with Soliris.
Soliris is made at Alexion’s Smithfield, R.I., plant and by an outside contractor in Europe.
Alexion’s SEC filing did not say how many of its 800 employees worldwide are in Japan and a spokesman declined to specify the count, citing company policy.
