Mitsubishi Tanabe, which was created in October 2007 through a merger of Mitsubishi Pharma Corp. and Tanabe Seiyaku Co., captured 4.9 per cent of the market.
But this was 0.2 point less than the combined market share of the pre-merger entities in fiscal 2006 as the market outgrew the merged firm.
Ranking of the top three drugmakers remained unchanged from a year earlier, with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. (TSE:4502) leading with 8 per cent.
Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE:4503) and Daiichi Sankyo Co. (TSE:4568) trailed at 7.3 per cent and 6.3 per cent respectively.
The domestic market for prescription drugs grew 5.5 per cent to 8.13 trillion yen (US$75.45 billion) in fiscal 2007.
The fiscal 2006 revision of government-mandated medicine prices caused the market to shrink 0.5 per cent that year, but the absence of such price cuts helped the market's value top 8 trillion yen for the first time in fiscal 2007.
Takeda had brisk sales for the Actos diabetes drug and the Candesartan high blood pressure treatment, with its market share remaining flat.
Astellas lifted its market share 0.1 point.
Daiichi Sankyo's market share fell by 0.2 points, although sales at its domestic drug operations increased.
(Nikkei)

More News:
Market Updates |
Stock Alerts |
All Trading News |
Stock Index