Yamanouchi Looks To New Products For Growth

Leading Japanese drugmaker Yamanouchi says that major changes are taking place in the nation's health care industry, and competition among pharmaceutical companies is expected to intensify in the coming years.

During fiscal 1995 (ended March 31), Yamanouchi notes in its annual report that it achieved improved net sales and income, despite the sharp appreciation of the yen against the US dollar. Consolidated net sales increased 4.2% to 384.3 billion yen ($3.82 billion), operating income advanced 13.5% to 89.0 billion yen and net income climbed 14.2% to 39.7 billion yen. Supporting this growth, it says, were strong parent company sales of mainstay as well as new products such as Gaster (famotidine) and Harnal (tamsulosin). Harnal, an alpha blocker for the treatment of bladder outlet obstructions caused by benign prostatic hyperplasia, was launched in Japan in 1993 and approved in the Netherlands in April 1995. Yamanouchi says this marks the first time that it has developed and marketed a drug independently overseas. Yamanouchi Europe was set to launch the drug under the trade name Omnic this fall.

The domestic market is undergoing a period of major transition, as wide-ranging reforms to rationalize drug expenditure are proposed and implemented. Pharmaceutical manufacturers, while continuing to promote the more appropriate use of drugs as well as transparency in promotional activities, faced harsh operating conditions that were exacerbated by an average 6.6% reduction in official drug reimbursement prices in April 1994, the company comments.