Astellas Pharma Inc, Japan's second largest ethical pharmaceutical company, has announced plans to enter the Indian market by launching its flagship product, Prograf, an immunosuppressant used after organ transplantation.

The company, which established its Indian subsidiary - Astellas Pharma India Pvt Ltd - in Mumbai on November 2008, aims to set up the business activities with a capitalization of around Rs 16.49 crore. The company plans to develop sales and marketing activities of in-house products in India through the subsidiary, informed the company officials.

Prograf, the first product to be launched, will hit the Rs 160 crore Indian immunosuppresants market by the end of current financial year, said Teruo Yasufuku, managing director, Astellas Pharma India. The price for the product, to be imported from one of its manufacturing plant outside Japan, in India is not fixed as of now. However, he refused to reveal on the product launch pipeline of Astellas for India.

"Indian pharma market is dominated by the generic medicines. Our strategy will be to place ourselves in this market as an originator company," Yasufuku averred. He added, "Our focus will be to deliver innovative and reliable pharmaceutical products for improving the health of people. We are confident that with this beginning we hope to succeed in long-term growth."

The company will recruit specialized sales force to market Prograf in around 150 hospitals where transplantation facilities are available, reveals Himanshu Dave, director - sales & marketing, Astellas Pharma India. The sales force will be recruited as per the requirement of product promotion.

Commenting on the potential of Indian pharma market, he said, "The market, presently driven by over a billion population, an expanding GDP and rapid epidemiological transitions, is expected to be the major player in global pharmaceutical market both in terms of its large domestic market and also as a pharmaceutical export hub."

Astellas Pharma Inc is a global category leader in transplant & urology and the second largest ethical pharma company as per the 2008 financial data. The company had sales of JPY 965 billion in financial year 2008 and JPY 159 billion (16.5 per cent of sales) for R&D spending.