Fujisawa Says Global Business Growing Steadily

Despite facing an increasingly tough domestic market, Japanesepharmaceutical major Fujisawa expects to steadily expand its global business in the coming years, according to the company's president, Akira Fujiyama.

Speaking at a press conference to outline the company's forthcoming strategy, Mr Fujiyama claimed that Fujisawa was well ahead of other Japanese majors in terms of globalization, due principally to strong growth in sales of its immunosuppressant drug Prograf (tacrolimus). Now available in 17 countries including Japan and the USA, Prograf will be launched in Italy in January/February next year.

It is currently available in Hong Kong and Taiwan, with Korea to follow in early 1998, and Fujisawa says that Prograf will have been launched in some 25 countries by the end of next year. The company has been particularly encouraged by Prograf sales, which were 12 billion yen ($93.1 million) for the fiscal year ended March 1997, and are estimated to jump to 21 billion yen for fiscal 1998. Mr Fujiyama said he believed that worldwide sales could top 40 billion yen by 2000.