Astellas announces completion of restructuring

Astellas Pharma has announced that the company has completed a restructuring of its subsidiary companies. The firm’s production subsidiary, Astellas Tokai, has been merged with Astellas Shizuoka and Astellas Clinical Supply, with the business of these firms now conducted under the Astellas Tokai name.

This restructuring was first announced by Astellas in October 2006 and aims to facilitate the more efficient use of infrastructure and human resources at the Fuji and Yaizu plants through this consolidation.

Furthermore, the process of formulating and packaging investigational compounds will be consolidated at the Yaizu plant alongside the pharmaceutical research and technology labs, with this change to take effect at the start of the 2009 financial year.

“Astellas aims to establish the system to supply investigational drugs in a reliable and timely manner, respond appropriately to commercial production of new products, ensure stable supplies of products in the Astellas group and improve its formulation and packaging technology,” the company reports.

The merged subsidiary will have approximately 1,100 employees at its sites, with its main business to include the contract manufacturing of ethical pharmaceuticals and investigational compounds.

Last month, Astellas announced that its board had adopted a resolution to cancel 45 million shares of common stock in the firm in June 2007, equating to 7.98 per cent of issued shares in the company.