Updated 7:10 p.m.
GlaxoSmithKline’s (NYSE:GSK) latest steps in its global diversification strategy will be in Japan. The British pharma is forming a joint venture with Daiichi-Sankyo that the companies aim to make the top vaccines company in Japan.
When Investment Rhymes with Canada
Canada has a proud history of achievement in the areas of science and technology, and the field of biomanufacturing and life sciences is no exception.
The 50/50 joint venture will link GSK with Daiichi, Japan’s third-largest drugmaker. The joint venture will hold rights to already existing vaccines from both parent companies including vaccines for Human Papillomavirus (HPV), Rotavirus, seasonal influenza and mumps, among other vaccines. But the joint venture will also develop a pipeline of additional vaccine candidates.
GSK and Daiichi are sharing equally in an approximately $1.2 million investment to launch the joint venture. The agreement to form the joint venture was announced today but completion of the deal is not expected until the third quarter as it still must receive approval from Japan’s regulators.
The pharma companies plan to work together to develop and launch quickly products that are not yet available in Japan, such as a shingles vaccine and combination vaccines against multiple illnesses, Japanese business newspaper Nikkei reported. Japan’s vaccine market totaled approximately $1.73 billion in 2010. GSK had about $740 million in 2011 vaccine sales in Japan. Nikkei said that the joint venture will help Daiichi expand in that field.
GlaxoSmithKline, which maintains its U.S. headquarters in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, has been pursuing a diversification strategy to move beyond selling “white pills in Western markets.” In 2011, 38 percent of GSK sales came from outside of the United States and Europe, according to the company’s full-year financial report. Japan represented more than $3.3 billion in 2011 drug and vaccines sales, up 35 percent compared to 2008, and GSK claims that it was the fastest-growing pharma company in Japan in 2011. GSK said in its financial report that the company has the potential to launch more than 10 new drugs and vaccines in Japan in the next three years.
