Eisai to strengthen position in Europe

"We wish to expand our presence in the European market with its 500 million population by establishing a European foothold called European Knowledge Center in the UK and setting up bases in European countries," said Haruo Naito, chief executive of Eisai, Japan's fourth largest pharmaceutical company, at a press conference in its Tokyo headquarters earlier this month.

In his explanation of the corporate strategy for achieving the goals in its fifth mid-term strategic plan called, "the Dramatic LEAP Plan 2011," he touched on how the firm will enhance its presence in Europe.

Eisai is now preparing to construct the European Knowledge Center near London, in the UK, to consolidate all key value chain components including headquarters, discovery, clinical development, production and marketing across European countries. It will invest 20.0 billion yen ($172.0 million) in the center with capacity for 500 employees. In addition, Eisai will build bases in Portugal, the Benelux countries, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Russia, resulting in the firm having business bases in 21 countries in Europe.