Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma
Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation was created in October 2007, through the merger of Tanabe Seiyaku and Mitsubishi Pharma. Tanabe is the surviving company, with each share of Mitsubishi converted into 0.69 share of Tanabe's common stock. The new company is a consolidated subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings, which holds the majority share.

With its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan and a network of regional headquarters in the US, Europe and Asia, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma aims to establish its position as a global, research-driven pharmaceutical company. The company manufactures and sells ethical and generic pharmaceuticals, as well as fine chemicals and active pharmaceutical ingredients or intermediates. Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma’s initial focus is on the development and marketing of products in the following therapeutic areas: Cardiovascular and Respiratory; Neurology; Immunology and Inflammation; and Gastrointestinal and Metabolism.

Market conditions in Japan are becoming increasingly fierce due to governmental drug price revisions and incoming competition from non-domestic major pharmaceutical companies. In the last two fiscal years, there have been four mergers between Japan’s leading pharma businesses, with the creation of Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharm being the latest. More recently, Kyowa Hakko and Kirin Brewery have also announced plans to merge.

Superficially, Mitsubishi Pharma and Tanabe would seem to compliment each other quite well, with both historically marketing products in similar therapeutic areas and both bringing unique qualities to create a well equipped merged company. Mitsubishi Pharma’s product portfolio was the most dated, however, the company brings to the merger considerable resources and infrastructure in biotechnology, mainly through its Benesis Corporation. Tanabe has several lucrative licensing agreements in place and thus the merged company is expected to continue to benefit from these. Tanabe’s arrangement with Johnson & Johnson is key to Mitsubishi Tanabe’s long-term growth as it includes licences for infliximab and golimumab, two anti-TNF antibodies indicated to treat a range of inflammatory and autoimmune indications. Infliximab has been launched in Japan and became Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma’s top-selling product in fiscal 2008. Golimumab only entered Phase II/III development in Japan in July 2008, however, its similar profile to infliximab suggests development should be successful, and the company will hope it can replicate the sales of infliximab.

Both parent companies had recently reported declines in revenue and pharmaceutical sales, therefore, this merger was vital. Our forecasts suggest that Mitsubishi Tanabe can expect sustained growth within the medium-term, confirming the benefits of the merger strategy. However, with three other large, merged companies competing domestically, as well as a fourth expected in October 2008, competition is expected to impact the merged company in the long-term as much as it did the parent companies in recent history.

Find out more about Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma in 4D Pharma's recently-updated intelligence report.

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Nycomed
Nycomed provides medicines and products for hospitals, specialists and general practitioners, as well as OTC medicines in selected markets. The company is active within a range of therapeutic areas, including gastroenterology, inflammation and pain, neurology, tissue management, respiratory and cardiology. In January 2007, Nycomed moved into its new corporate headquarters (HQ) in Zurich, Switzerland, with the company’s HQ function now officially transferred from Denmark to Switzerland.

The acquisition of Altana Pharma at the end of 2006 was a huge milestone for Nycomed. To put it into context, combined sales of the pantoprazole franchise by the two companies in 2006 was nearly double the total company revenue of Nycomed during the same period. Consequently, fiscal 2007 is expected to be a landmark year for Nycomed, with sales of major products approaching EUR 2 billion. However, this rapid growth will not be sustained due to the loss of patent protection for pantoprazole throughout 2009 and 2010. Nycomed concedes that there is a gap in its clinical development, and without extensive in-licensing, the company can expect a rapid decline of sales within our forecast period.

The future for Nycomed’s product portfolio appears to be within the respiratory field. Both Alvesco and Daxas are forecast to have sales in excess of EUR 200 million, with the latter potentially peaking at over EUR 1 billion depending on competitive pressures. In addition, Nycomed's acquisition of Bradley Pharmaceuticals strengthens its PharmaDerm division to become a leader in dermatology.

Fiscal 2007 was a year of integration and re-organisation for Nycomed. The company can be confident of significantly increased revenues, but in order for this to be sustained beyond the patent expiry of pantoprazole, Nycomed will need to rapidly utilise the infrastructure and expertise it has gained from Altana Pharma to ensure the long-term success of the company.

In this report, 4D Pharma provides a complete and critical review of the company and includes unique and independent assessments and forecasts of key products.

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