Eisai takes Dainippon drug into SE Asia

Japanese drugmaker Eisai is to introduce the Dainippon Sumitomo-originated, digestive motility drug Gasmotin (mosapride) to the markets of 10 Southeast Asian countries, according to a report in the Nikkei Weekly.

The Japanese financial newspaper says the firm has already won approval for the drug in Thailand and filed for such in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Next on the list for Eisai, under its 2006 license from Dainippon, are Singapore, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

Dainippon will provide the product to Eisai in the short-term. The Nikkei noted that the Thai approval was based on the original Japanese data, rather than local trials.