Eisai to export Alzheimer’s drug donepezil (Aricept), anti-ulcerant rabeprazole (Pariet) from India

Japanese drugmaker Eisai Co plans to produce some of its drug product including the high profile donepezil (Aricept) for the treatment of Alzheimer’s in India, to leverage on the cost-effective manufacturing offered by the country to ward off generic competition, reports said.

Eisai will begin manufacturing donepezil (Aricept) in India for exports to Japan, the United States and Europe next year.

Patents covering donepezil (Aricept) are set to expire in the United States this November and then in Japan and Europe by 2012.

Eisai has decided to shift production to India where it will be able to cut production costs roughly in half.

Eisai will be first major Japanese drugmaker to produce a drug in an emerging market.

Eisai will start producing the drug at a newly constructed plant in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

Currently, Aricept accounts for about 40 percent of Eisai’s total sales.

Eisai is also expected to begin Indian production of the ulcer treatment Pariet (rabeprazole). Pariet (rabeprazole) is an acid regulator. Pariet (rabeprazole) will go off-patent in the United States in 2013.

In April, another Japanese drug major Astellas Pharma Inc launched its flagship anti-organ rejection drug Prograf (tacrolimus) in India.

Prograf is prescribed to prevent organ rejection in patients receiving allogenic liver, kidney, or heart transplants and was first approved and launched in Japan in 1993.

“Having been rated as the Japan’s number two ethical pharmaceutical company (2008), we are confident our products will create their own niche in the Indian market,” stated Teruo Yasufuku, managing director, Astellas India.

To tap the 1.6 billion rupees immunosuppressant market in India, Prograf will be promoted in kidney, liver, heart transplants & marketed in more than 150 hospitals where transplantation facilities are available, Astellas India officials said.

Astellas has also plans to further expand its business within Asia with its entry into the Indian market as a footing.

Indian market is currently one of the fast growing markets in the pharmemerging countries. According to the RNCOS report, in near future, the potential and opportunities within this market will increase by several folds. The market, presently driven by over a billion population, an expanding GDP, and rapid epidemiological transitions, is expected to be the major player in the global pharmaceutical market both in terms of its large domestic market and also as a pharmaceutical export hub.

Daiichi Sankya, another leading player from Japan has established in India through acquiring Ranbaxy in a $4.6 billion deal in June last year.

Several players from India also forayed the highly lucrative Japanese market in recent years.

The generic drugs business in Japan is set to grow by 9% from the current less than 5% in the next 3-4 years. Indian generic makers see a huge opportunity as the generics market in Japan is poised to witness strong annual growth of around 9% in 2009-2013 on the back of strong government support and largely untapped nature.

Leading Indian generic players, including Ranbaxy, Lupin, Zydus Cadila and Dishman, have already entered the Japanese pharma market.