Japanese pharma firm Takeda has completed construction of its first drug manufacturing facility in Russia, making it one of the first major global pharma companies to launch such a plant in the emerging market.
The facility, which will lead to the creation of around 200 jobs, is based in Yaroslavl to the north east of Moscow and comes at a cost of around €75m.
It is due to be fully operational by 2014, initially focusing on the manufacture of cardiomagnyl, actovegin and calcium tablets to satisfy an increasingly high demand for such products in the Russian market.
At launch, it will have the capacity to manufacture 90 million sterile ampoules and more than 2 billion tablets per year. It will also feature both liquid sterile production and solid production.
“Russia is our largest emerging market in terms of revenues, and is expected to contribute significantly to our growth over the next few years,” said Yasuchika Hasegawa, president and CEO of Takeda.
“The Yaroslavl facility will enable us to provide locally produced pharmaceutical products to patients and clinicians, as well as bringing significant benefits to the Yaroslavl and Russian economy.”
This sentiment was backed by local government, with governer of the Yaroslavl Region Sergey Yastrebov describing the facility as an “excellent example of the benefits that international investment can bring to the Russian economy”.
Takeda, which is based on sales is the 7th largest pharmaceutical company in Russia, has been stepping up its international expansion since the purchase of Swiss firm Nycomed in October, 2011.
At the time Nycomed had only recently expanded its presence in Russia with the purchase from Norgine of exclusive rights to commercialise MoviPrep in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and this latest move gives Takeda an even stronger presence in a pharma market thought to be worth $14.7bn during 2011.
According to Takeda, sales in Russia and the CIS are expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 11 per cent between 2012 and 2016, although the company plans to outpace this with an annual growth rate of 15 per cent over the same period.
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