Aspirations of Astellas Pharma, the merged Yamanouchi/Fujisawa

The presidents of Japanese drugmakers Yamanouchi and Fujisawa, Toichi Takenaka and Hatsuo Aoki, respectively, have issued a statement on mid-term management plans for Astellas Pharma, the company that will be formed as a result of their merger which will take place in April 2005 (Marketletters passim).

Among their aims is to be number one on the Japanese pharmaceutical market, where Astellas will have 2,700 medical representatives and therapeutic area specialists, and also to accelerate the business operations in the USA and improve the group's standing in the European market, where it will have sales bases in 18 countries.

The sales target for the ethical drugs business is 1,000 billion yen ($9.5 billion) by fiscal year 2007, which excludes the over-the-counter medicines operations which have been hived off into Zepharma, with operating income of 250 billion yen and operating margins of 25%.