The Bangalore-based Bal Pharma Limited, a Rs 90.35 crore mid-cap pharma company, has chalked out an aggressive plan to storm into the Japanese market in a big way. While it has been one of the few players present in the market, it is now looking at this Land of the Rising Sun to increase its market share at the earliest.
"The company is already present in the region with Gliclazide and Ebasitine. We have already identified a couple of products to be taken through, but revealing the information would be difficult at the moment," said, Ramandeep Bagga, associate vice president, international marketing, Bal Pharma Ltd.
The present scene for pharma in Japan is encouraging and especially after Daiichi's takeover of leading Indian player Ranbaxy, we are more keen and comfortable to market in Japan. This also shows the comfort level of Japanese with Indian players, he added.
Currently, Bal Pharma markets its range of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in Japan and is planning to sell formulations too. "We are working hard to get our formulations in Japan and we would have advantage as all the basic work is nearly completed. We expect a good result, due to our early entry in the market. Entry of new products is an ongoing process and we are focused on our approach," noted Bagga.
There is a huge scope and potential to build up generics business in Japan. So far, only patented drugs and a handful of branded generics were preferred in Japan. But now, with the Japanese government insisting on bringing down the cost of healthcare for which drugs play a major component, the country is forced to look at markets like India, which has a generics expertise, informed Bagga.
Also, according to certain pharma analysts, Japanese players are looking at India for supply of quality and affordable generics for its ageing population. The country is also rocked by the increasing number of young patients suffering from life style disorders, including diabetes and hypertension, besides related psychosomatic disorders. This gives an opportunity for Indian generic majors to enter the Japanese market.
The size of the Japanese pharma market is around US $60 billion but it is difficult to estimate the growth rate, but certainly generic growth rate would be high.
The entry barriers for companies include stringent regulatory norms and slow entry process, due to its adherence to traditional approach towards business. Apart, it takes a lot of time to identify right partners in the region.