Astellas sets out goals as 'category leader' in new mid-term plan, with focus on China

Japanese drug major Astellas Pharma, which recently secured agreement from USA-based OSI Pharmaceuticals to proceed with its increased $4 billion bid for the company (The Pharma Letter May 17) has announced the new five-year mid-term management plan for fiscal years ending March 31, 2015, which anticipates steady growth after a dip for the last fiscal year (TPL May 13), and with a focus on emerging markets, notably China.

Astellas, Japan's second largest pharmaceutical group by sales, said its new medium-term business plan aims for group operating profit of 240 billion yen ($2.68 billion) in the fiscal year ending March 2015, representing an increase of 58% over four years from the 152 billion yen it projects for the current fiscal year. It is also aiming for global revenue of some $12 billion by 2015, up from $10.5 billion this year. In Asia, the company forecast, sales may exceed $671 million by then, compared with $396 million predicted for the current fiscal year.

In 2006, Astellas formulated "VISION 2015" which set forth the goals of becoming a "Global Category Leader" (GCL) for establishing competitiveness by providing high-value-added products globally in various highly specialized fields where there is a high degree of unmet medical needs, and continuously enhance its enterprise value through the "maximization of value-added for people seeking health."