Abbott cuts sales ties with Dainippon

Dainippon and Abbott have announced today that their decade-long sales partnership is to terminate at the end of the month.

American pharmaceutical firm Abbott will now sell its drugs in Japan through its own network from April, according to a report from Reuters.

Both firms are said to have agreed against renewing the alliance when it finishes at the end of March. Abbott is reported to be restructuring its sales to increase its market share in Japan, the world’s second biggest pharmaceuticals market.

A contract from 1996 had meant that Abbott sold its products through the Japanese firm, consisting of around 22 per cent of Dainippon’s 246 billion yen sales.

To make up for the lost market, a Dainippon spokesman is quoted as saying that the company will boost sales of other products such as the hypertension drug Amlodin and gastrointestinal activator Gasmotin.

Key products Abbott is likely to push to increase its Japanese sales include Norvir, Hytrin and Synthroid.

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