Following a major push by the industry’s heavyweights to simplify their businesses in recent years, Tanabe Pharma is jumping aboard the trend with a deal to sell two manufacturing plants and rights to more than a dozen drugs to Japanese compatriot Towa Pharmaceutical.
Tanabe has struck an agreement to sell its subsidiary Tanabe Pharma Factory, which operates plants in Onoda and Yoshitomi, to Towa Pharmaceutical for an undisclosed price, the company said in a July 3 announcement (PDF).
The subsidiary employed more than 500 people as of April 1 and produces a range of pharmaceutical products that are slated to shift over to Towa’s ownership under the agreement.
Tanabe listed several reasons for the deal, the primary being its desire to “focus our efforts on research and development and business development,” according to the notice. At the same time, the company has determined that the sale to Towa can help “fully leverage” the capabilities of the divested sites and drive future growth for the outgoing unit.
The companies expect the share transfer to take place in November, with the full transfer of marketing rights and manufacturing responsibilities to be effective during or after April 2027.
The specific medicines being transferred include the antiplatelet drug Anplag, the cardiovascular medication Kalgut and the ACE inhibitor Tanatril, among many others.
For Tanabe, the deal follows its own sale to Bain Capital last year and its decision to drop its prior moniker, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma. In striking the $3.3 billion deal in February, Bain indicated a desire to tap into growth opportunities in Japan’s innovative medicines industry, pledging to provide financial support to Tanabe along the way.
As for Towa, the generics specialist’s mid-term business plan (PDF) calls for a continued focus on the Japanese market, plus overseas expansions. In its own deal notice (PDF), Towa said the agreement allows the generics company to “enhance its product portfolio” and boost production efficiency.
While not on the same scale of some of Big Pharma’s major carveouts in recent years, the deal follows a noticeable pattern in which diversified drugmakers have simplified their structures to focus more on innovative medicines. Major pharma companies to take this path over the last several years include Sanofi, GSK, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer.