9 November 2018 - Deborah Wilkes
Taisho Pharmaceutical, Daiichi-Sankyo and Piramal have all recently released financial results.
Taisho's Self-Medication sales down 2.3%
Japan's Taisho Pharmaceutical reported Self-Medication sales down by 2.3% to JPY89.8 billion (USD0.79 billion) in the six months ended 30 September 2018.
Commenting on the Japanese OTC market, the company said there had been strong sales growth in some categories, such as anti-inflammatory analgesics and Kampo medicines, but sales in other categories, such as anti-inflammatory analgesics for external use and gastrointestinal remedies, had been lacklustre.
Around 80.8% of Taisho's Self-Medication sales were generated in its home market of Japan, where sales fell by 2.6% to JPY72.6 billion.
Overseas sales by the Japanese company's Self-Medication business also dropped by 2.6% to JPY15.6 billion. The overseas OTC drug business, which is being developed mainly in Asia, reported sales down by 7.9% to JPY8.8 billion.
The Others segment was up by 16.3% to JPY1.6 billion.
Operating profit at the Self-Medication division was up by 17.8% to JPY16.9 billion.
Taisho expects Self-Medication sales to increase by 1.4% in the 12 months ending 31 March 2019.
Taisho's total sales, including the Prescription Pharmaceutical business, were down by 6.6% to JPY129 billion.
Daiichi-Sankyo's OTC sales fall 2.8%
Sales by Daiichi-Sankyo's OTC business in Japan fell by 2.8% to JPY34.8 billion (USD0.31 billion) in the six months ended 30 September 2018. The Japanese pharmaceutical company highlighted growth of the Minon brand and said the decrease was mainly due to changes in accounting policy.
The Japanese OTC business accounted for 7.8% of Daiichi-Sankyo's total sales, which decreased by 4.8% to JPY447 billion.
Big drop for Piramal
Piramal said sales at its India Consumer Products business had dropped by 32.2% to INR0.81 billion (USD11.3 million) in the three months ended 30 September 2018.
The Indian company said the fall was in part due to the comparison with a strong performance in the same period a year earlier as the business recovered from the impact of channel destocking around the time of the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on 1 July 2017.
Piramal added that the fall was also due to the impact of India's Fixed Dose Combination (FDC) ban, which had affected the pain reliever Saridon for a limited period. Piramal obtained a stay order from India's Supreme Court in September 2018 and currently continues to manufacture, sell and distribute Saridon.
Consumer Products generated 2.6% of sales at Piramal Enterprises, which were up by 24.0% to INR31.4 billion in the quarter. The Indian company has interests in Financial Services, Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Insights and Analytics.
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