{"id":62015,"date":"2025-10-14T01:03:44","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T23:03:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pharma-trend.com\/en\/court-proceedings-begin-in-oasiss-shareholder-derivative-lawsuit-seeking-director-accountability-for-kobayashi-pharmaceutical-beni-koji-supplement-tragedy\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T01:03:44","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T23:03:44","slug":"court-proceedings-begin-in-oasiss-shareholder-derivative-lawsuit-seeking-director-accountability-for-kobayashi-pharmaceutical-beni-koji-supplement-tragedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pharma-trend.com\/en\/court-proceedings-begin-in-oasiss-shareholder-derivative-lawsuit-seeking-director-accountability-for-kobayashi-pharmaceutical-beni-koji-supplement-tragedy\/","title":{"rendered":"Court Proceedings Begin in Oasis\u2019s Shareholder Derivative Lawsuit Seeking Director Accountability for Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Beni-Koji Supplement Tragedy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\n(Securities Code: 4967 JT)<\/b><\/p>\n

\n*The first shareholder derivative lawsuit hearing takes place today at Osaka District Court<\/b><\/p>\n

\n*Oasis seeks to hold directors accountable for the Beni-Koji incident and to help Kobayashi Pharma recover damages caused to it by the directors at the time of the incident<\/b><\/p>\n

\nMore information available at <\/i><\/b>www.KobayashiCorpGov.com<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

HONG KONG–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oasis Management Company Ltd. (\u201cOasis\u201d) is the manager to funds that beneficially own over 10.1% of Japanese pharmaceuticals and food products manufacturer Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (4967 JT) (\u201cKobayashi Pharma\u201d or the \u201cCompany\u201d). As Kobayashi Pharma\u2019s second-largest shareholder and largest institutional shareholder, Oasis is working to secure appropriate reparations for the victims of the Beni-Koji Incident, build effective corporate governance by freeing the Company from the control of the founding family, and ensure that improved product safety and recurrence prevention measures are implemented going forward.<\/p>\n

\nToday at the Osaka District Court marks the first court hearing in the shareholder derivative lawsuit submitted by Oasis on behalf of Kobayashi Pharma, which seeks to establish director liability for the Beni-Koji incident. Through this litigation, Oasis aims to correct the corporate governance failures at Kobayashi Pharma and recover damages on behalf of Kobayashi Pharma of at least JPY 13.5 billion caused by the directors.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThis case represents an important step towards setting a new standard for director accountability in Japan, helping to ensure that corporate governance failures of this magnitude — and the human tragedies they enable — are never repeated again,\u201d said Seth Fischer, founder and Chief Investment Officer of Oasis.<\/p>\n

\nBackground of the Beni-Koji Incident<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\nThe incident originates from the health hazard that was reported to be caused by products containing Beni-Koji that Kobayashi Pharma manufactured and sold (the \u201cProducts\u201d). The damage to consumers reported to be caused by the Beni-koji Incident is extremely serious. Specifically, according to the latest report by MHLW, there were 408 fatalities, 558 inpatients requiring hospitalization, and 2,710 patients in medical institutions.<\/p>\n

\nAlthough the Company was informed by a physician in mid-January 2024 of a health hazard incident possibly caused by the Products, the Company did not publicize the Beni-Koji Incident until the announcement of a voluntary recall of Beni-koji-related products, including the Products, on March 22, 2024, over two months later. Subsequently, on March 27, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (the \u201cMHLW\u201d) presented its view that the Products produced by Kobayashi Pharma should be treated as a violation of Article 6, Item 2 of the Food Sanitation Law. The Beni-Koji Incident has caused numerous types of severe damage affecting the lives and health of consumers and Oasis believes that this resulted from various breaches of obligations by the then-current Board of Directors of Kobayashi Pharma.<\/p>\n

\nBasis of the Claims<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\nBased on information revealed in the Fact-Finding Committee’s report and various media reports, Oasis believes that the following failures, could constitute breaches of the obligations of the Company’s Directors at the time of the incident:<\/p>\n

\nDirectors named as defendants:<\/b><\/p>\n