Pharmaceutical company intelligence reports from Espicom provide a full review of the company's activities together with five-year sales forecasts for its key products. The company's financial performance is covered in-depth, from its latest results to a complete analysis of its latest full fiscal year and an outlook for the future. A section on company strategy covers mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, key agreements, products and R&D. An overview of key products and R&D is followed by a comprehensive review of the company's product portfolio and research and development pipeline by therapeutic area. In addition, supplementary appendices provide more in-depth information on financials, agreements and corporate events. Mitsubishi Pharma Corporation was formed in October 2001, through the merger of Welfide Corporation and Mitsubishi-Tokyo Pharmaceuticals in response to the challenging business environment in Japan and in the pharmaceutical industry as a whole. On 3rd October 2005, Mitsubishi Pharma and Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation undertook a stock-for-stock exchange operation to form the joint holding company, Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation. Through this reorganisation of company operations, Mitsubishi Pharma hopes to move closer to being a pure-play pharmaceutical company.

In fiscal 2006, Mitsubishi Pharma achieved growth in company revenue for the first time in several years, however, in fiscal 2007, net sales have once again declined. This may be due to changes in accounting conditions in Japan, which have seen a revision of pharmaceutical product sales in 2006 and 2007. The strong performance in 2006 was attributed to the successful implementation of Mitsubishi Pharma's Mid-Term Corporate Action Plan, which has helped the company reorganise the majority of its operations to improve efficiencies and reduce costs. Mitsubishi Pharma has now decided to merge with Tanabe Seiyaku (due to be completed within the current financial year), a continuation of Mitsubishi Pharma's long history of successful merger moves. Mitsubishi Pharma hopes the new company, Mitsubishi-Tanabe Pharma, will be better equipped to compete with other recently merged Japanese companies, such Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma, Astellas and Daiichi Sankyo.

In 2006, Mitsubishi Pharma reduced R&D expenditure, going against current market trends where most pharma companies are looking to increase investment in this area. However, at 20.3 per cent in 2006, Mitsubishi Pharma's research to sales ratio compares favourably with its pharmaceutical competitors. Mitsubishi Pharma has also developed a number of high-potential candidate compounds, such as MP-513, MCC-555 and Albrec, however line extensions for key products are the main focus of R&D efforts. All four of Mitsubishi Pharma's key products (Urso, Anplag, Radicut and Venoglobulin-IH) cater for niche indications, therefore, it is important that their respective profiles be expanded in order to maximise their value. Anplag is forecast to be the main growth driver for pharmaceutical sales although all four key products will make strong contributions in the short- to medium-term. The merger with Tanabe will significantly expand both the pipeline and the product portfolio.

Argatra is not a top-selling drug for Mitsubishi Pharma, however, it represents a milestone for the company when it became Mitsubishi Pharma's first independently-marketed product in Europe in 2005. Although only currently available in Germany, Mitsubishi Pharma anticipates Argatra will soon be launched in most major European markets. The launch of Argatra in Europe, coupled with Mitsubishi Pharma's extensive history and infrastructure in China, will be key to expanding the company's overseas profile. Mitsubishi Pharma only markets a few products in the US, and the majority of its late-stage development in this market is out-licensed to other companies. Consequently, expansion in the US is likely to become increasingly important to the company, and it has been cited as a key target following the merger with Tanabe.