Takeda Acquires Irish Plant From Affiliate Grelan

Japanese drugmaker Takeda Chemical Industries has acquired a plant inIreland from its affiliate Grelan Pharmaceutical for an estimated 2-3 billion yen ($16.5-$24.7 million), a Takeda spokesman has confirmed. The company plans to produce drugs to treat hypertension and other diseases, and has said it will put its production plant into operation in late 1999.

The move reflects a Japanese industry trend towards producing and marketing overseas, given the slowdown in the domestic market. The Irish plant, which Takeda will re-equip and modernize, is the Japanese company's first production base in Europe. It intends initially to make two antihypertensives and an antidiabetes drug for sales in Europe and the USA.

The Irish operation also aims to help Grelan's restructuring efforts. Takeda holds an 18% stake in Grelan, which has suffered losses for the past few years due to its Irish investment and delayed local approval to make a hyperlipidemia drug. It had sales of some 8 billion yen in the year ended September 30. Fellow Japanese drug firms Yamanouchi and Fujisawa have already set up plants in Ireland.