Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

PFE is Going Generic in Japan

[Japan has the lowest penetration of generic drugs among the major pharma markets. The reason is more cultural than legal, which leaves an opportunity for companies like PFE to make money there by selling branded generics. See #msg-39315651 for a related story in a different part of the world.]

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idCNT19941420091118

›Wed Nov 18, 2009 6:56pm EST

TOKYO, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc, the world's largest drugmaker, plans to begin selling generic drugs in Japan as early as 2011, the Nikkei business daily reported on Thursday.

The U.S. company aims to have a line-up of more than 100 generic drugs in Japan, including 70 of its own patent-expired drugs, the Nikkei said. Pfizer is considering manufacturing the products in India and elsewhere, according to the paper.

The Japanese market for generic drugs is estimated to be worth around 400 billion yen ($4.5 billion) this year, the business daily said.

Generics account for just one fifth of overall drug sales in volume terms in Japan, compared with more than 50 percent in the U.S. and European markets, the Nikkei said. [In the US (thanks to the Hatch-Waxman act for small-molecule drugs), generic penetration by volume is almost 80%; Europe, generic penetration varies widely from country to country.]‹