JPMA members' overseas sales ratio increases to 38.5% in FY 2007

Sales and operating, ordinary and net profits of 14 Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association-member, Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed companies with annual sales of over 100.0 billion yen ($920.0 million) in their interim financial results for the 2007 fiscal year increased 5.8% to 3,065.2 billion yen, 25.1% to 782.9 billion yen, 22.4% to 871.7 billion yen and 22.8% to 542.5 billion yen, respectively, compared to the previous year, the trade body announced.

Of the 14 companies included in the JPMA survey, one operates with business results for the fiscal year ending February 2008.

Overseas sales increased 14.4%, or 149.1 billion yen, while domestic turnover improved only 1.0% to 18.8 billion yen. The entrance of generic drugs and the flat-sum reimbursement system in Japan's National Health Insurance have affected the domestic market, although the growth of mainstay products has contributed to total sales expansion. The overseas sales ratio increased 2.9 percentage points to 38.5% compared to a year ago. By region in foreign sales of the top four major pharmaceutical companies, the USA, Europe and the rest of the world including Asia accounted for: 64.6%, or 663.3 billion yen; 28.0%, or 287.2 billion yen; and 7.5% or 77.0 billion yen, respectively. However, the rest of the world grew a substantial 27%, followed by 12% in the USA and 11% for Europe.