Lupin aims to break into top five in Japanese mkt

NEW DELHI, April 17 (The Economic Times): Drug maker Lupin Sunday said it is aiming to become one of the top five generic pharmaceutical companies in Japan in the next three years. As part of the plan, the firm's Japanese arm Kyowa Pharmaceutical will source active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) from India to leverage on cost advantage so that it can sell highly competitively priced generic drugs there. Besides, the company is also looking at in-licensing and partnerships with European and American drug majors to market products in Japan. "The aim is to become one of the top five generic pharma companies in Japan in terms of profitability," Lupin President AAMLA and Business Development Vinod Dhawan said. At present, Kyowa Pharmaceutical that reported sales of 10.4 billion yen (nearly Rs 575 crore) in Japan in 2009-10 is the seventh generic maker in Japan. Dhawan said the company is looking to achieve a revenue growth of 20-25 per cent in Japan, which will be mainly driven by new products launches and cost efficiency measures. As a strategic move, KP plans to start sourcing APIs from India, through which it is aiming at about 15 per cent to 20 per cent saving over the existing cost of procurement. "The first lot of APIs will be sourced from India by the end of next financial year (early 2012). It is easier to control cost of active pharmaceutical ingredients due to backward integration," Dhawan said, adding Kyowa historically has been sourcing APIs from within Japan or Europe. "It will now use Lupin APIs manufactured in India. A total of nine APIs, which are the largest selling, will be sourced," Dhawan said. Lupin's big move for the Japanese market comes at a time when the government there had agreed to treat Indian pharma firms at par with its domestic companies and thus making it easier to market generic drugs, under a free trade pact between the two countries.