TOKYO — The global electric vehicle boom threatens to exacerbate shortages of cheap but lifesaving drugs in Japan as soaring demand for EV battery materials like lithium pushes prices of key ingredients higher.
Japan’s Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma plans to end production and sales of lithium carbonate tablets, used for treating manic episodes of bipolar disorder, due to the risk of future shortages and price hikes for lithium, Nikkei Asia has learned.