Sanjiu expands drug sales in Japan but relocates manufacture to China
China's largest drug maker, Sanjiu Enterprise Group, aims to expand its activities via its Japanese unit, Sanjiuhonsoubou Medical & Pharmaceutical, and will transfer production of herbal medicine for sale in Japan to China as soon as possible to lower costs. The Japanese unit has recently established a wholesaler in China to import drugs made by Japanese companies.
China's largest drug maker, Sanjiu Enterprise Group, aims to expand its activities via its Japanese unit, Sanjiuhonsoubou Medical & Pharmaceutical, and will transfer production of herbal medicine for sale in Japan to China as soon as possible to lower costs. The Japanese unit has recently established a wholesaler in China to import drugs made by Japanese companies.
Sanjiuhonsoubou took over Toa Seiyaku a Toyama-based firm licensed to produce Chinese herbal medicine in 2003, and Toa has since produced 18 drugs for sale under the Sanjiu brand in Japan using domestically sourced ingredients.
The costs of drug production in China are estimated to be less than half that in Japan, and the bottling and packaging work now performed by Toa is to be relocated to China.
Sanjiuhonsoubou has been expanding its sales in Japan by selling drugs and nutrient supplements through stores, with sales of Chinese herbal medicines in Japan projected to reach ¥1bn (€7,429) in fiscal 2005 from ¥320m (€2.4m) in 2004.