As fears grew over a widening Ebola outbreak in west Africa, it was an unlikely company to which the world turned for help: Japan’s Fujifilm.
A newcomer to the pharmaceutical industry, the Japanese rival of Eastman Kodak was thrust into global spotlight when its anti-influenza drug emerged as a potential treatment for Ebola patients.
“If requested, we are ready to quickly produce mass amounts,” said Shigetaka Komori, Fujifilm’s chief executive.
The drug, called Avigan, helps block replication of viral genes within an infected cell, and was approved in Japan in March to treat influenza. Researchers have hopes it can work for a range of other diseases including Ebola, West Nile and Marburg virus.
This month, a French nurse recovered from Ebola after being treated with Avigan, and the French and Guinean governments will begin clinical trials of the drug to treat Ebola from November.
The company has a stockpile to treat 20,000 people and said this week that it will ramp up production from next month to meet overseas demand.
Shares in the company are up 16 per cent since the first week of August, when news of the drug’s wider potential emerged.
Fujifilm’s venture into medicine was part of a corporate makeover that began when its analogue film business crumbled with the advent of the digital age. Global demand for photo film peaked in 2000 and the market shrivelled to one-twentieth of its heyday by 2013.
It was that year that Mr Komori, now 75 years old, became Fujifilm’s president and bulldozed through the radical – and often painful – changes that have proved vital for its survival.
Under Mr Komori, Fujifilm branched out into pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, which helped to cushion the fall of its photo film sales.
In a reversal of fate, Kodak, the US arch-rival that Fujifilm had frantically chased after in the postwar period, filed for bankruptcy two years ago, unable to keep up with the industry’s changes.
Fujifilm’s audacious transformation is now an often cited case study for executives looking to diversify their businesses. The company’s nimble turnround also trumped Japan Inc’s reputation for slow restructuring, underscored by Sony’s decade-long entrapment in layoffs and cost cuts.
“You have to do it at one go. Or else it will take time and the wound will keep getting bigger,” Mr Komori said in an interview.
Mr Komori carried out two major rounds of restructuring, one begun in 2006 to offset the decline of its photo film business and another from 2009 in the wake of the global financial crisis. That led to the loss or replacement of 10,000 jobs and a combined restructuring charge of more than Y350bn ($3.3bn).
“Who’s going to oppose when the boat is about to sink? It’s better than sacrificing the entire company,” he says.

翻译仅供参考：
在埃博拉病毒肆虐西非引发的恐惧日甚之时，国际社会似乎不会去向日本富士胶片(Fujifilm)这样的公司寻求帮助。
然而，当富士胶片推出的一种抗流感药物被证明或许能被用来抗击埃博拉病毒时，这个制药行业的新手顿时成为全球瞩目的焦点。
富士胶片首席执行官古森重隆( Shigetaka Komori)表示：“只要人们需要，我们已做好快速大批量生产的准备。”
这种名为Avigan的药品有助于阻止受感染细胞中病毒基因的复制。今年3月，日本政府已批准将该药品用于治疗流感。研究人员希望这种药对于包括埃博拉病毒、西尼罗河(West Nile)病毒和马尔堡(Marburg)病毒在内的一系列其他疾病也能奏效。
这个月，一名法国护士在接受Avigan治疗后，从埃博拉病毒感染中康复。从11月开始，法国政府和几内亚政府将就该药物治疗埃博拉的效果开展临床试验。
目前，富士胶片拥有的该药品库存能够为2万人提供治疗。就在本周，该公司表示将从下个月开始提高产量，以满足海外需求。
这种药品可能可以治疗埃博拉病毒感染的消息，是在今年8月份的头一周传出的。消息传出之后，该公司股价上升了16%。
投资制药产业是富士胶片转型计划的一部分。模拟类胶片业务正因为数字时代的到来而走向末路。全球对胶卷的需求在2000年达到顶峰，随后便不断下滑。截至2013年，这一市场的规模已缩水到顶峰时期的二十分之一。
正是在2000年，现年75岁的古森重隆担任了富士胶片的首席执行官，并开始大力推行激进而痛苦的改革。事实证明，他的改革对富士胶片的生存至关重要。
在古森的领导下，富士胶片启动了向制药产业和化妆品产业的多元化经营。这种策略帮助富士胶片缓冲了胶卷销售额的下滑。
与富士胶片相反，作为该公司战后一直疯狂追赶的美国劲敌，柯达(Kodak)却因为不能适应产业的变化，在两年前申请破产。
富士胶片首次进军制药产业是在上世纪80年代中期。当时，该公司胶卷销售强劲，前景欣欣向荣。作为第二次尝试，古森走了一条捷径：2008年，富士胶片通过一宗规模为16亿美元的交易，收购了亏损中的中型制药商富山化学(Toyama Chemical)。
如今，富士胶片的医疗保健业务（其中包括制药、化妆品及医疗设备业务）带来的营收占其2.4万亿日元总营收的16%，是仅次于复印机和办公用品业务的第二大部门。
相比之下，胶卷业务营收占比还不到1%。目前，这家市值160亿美元的公司打算在2018年以前，将医疗保健业务的销售额扩大两倍，提升至1万亿日元。