Strengthening the CMC contract research business through the acquisition of all shares in スペラファーマ

「In the pharmaceutical CDMO division, although orders were secured for investigational drug manufacturing and testing services in the formulation manufacturing field, the decline in large projects in the ingredients manufacturing field resulted in sluggish sales and profit.」

「The pharmaceutical development ecosystem division performed steadily in both sales and profit, supported by the acquisition of new large-scale projects in the CMC field and contributions from medium-molecule drug substance process development projects using the Molecular Hiving method.」

「In the pharmaceutical development ecosystem division, the CMC business continued sales activities targeting new-drug manufacturers, venture companies and generic-drug manufacturers and focused on securing new projects. It also worked to expand orders related to MicroED (Microcrystal Electron Diffraction). Overall, orders remained on track even after excluding the impact of some orders being suspended or cancelled.」

「In the medium-molecule field, hydrophobic tags, a key raw material, were sold, and orders for process development projects increased from global mega-pharmaceutical companies and others overseas.」

「In the CDMO division, contract capacity was expanded by increasing specialized research personnel, while efforts focused on increasing orders from major new-drug manufacturers and developing new customers such as venture companies. Efficiency in investigational drug manufacturing was also improved, and profit margins on contract projects were raised further. In addition, sales began for a hydrophobic tag, a key raw material for peptides, enabling us to increase orders for process development projects for medium-molecule active pharmaceutical ingredients from new-drug manufacturers, including global mega-pharmaceutical companies overseas with a strong presence in the peptide and nucleic acid fields.」

「In addition to improving profit margins on contract projects, the company further streamlined operations for manufacturing investigational drugs and expanded contract capacity by increasing specialized personnel. As a result, sales remained strong, exceeding the same period of the previous year.」

「In the CDMO division, スペラファーマ株式会社 continued to strengthen sales activities targeting major new-drug manufacturers and venture companies, as well as improve profit margins on contract projects, following the second quarter. It also further streamlined operations for manufacturing investigational drugs and expanded contract capacity by increasing specialized research personnel. As a result, the CDMO division as a whole secured further new orders, sales continued to increase and an environment was established in which profitability is expected to improve going forward.」

「As a result, the value of orders increased from the same period of the previous year and sales began to grow again, creating an operating environment in which improved profitability can be expected going forward.」

「In the CDMO division, we promoted new customer development and stronger relationships with existing customers, including by intensifying sales activities targeting major pharmaceutical companies and holding customer webinars, in order to make up for delays in management improvement initiatives during the previous consolidated fiscal year. We also focused sales activities on development support services for medium-molecule drugs and worked to improve gross profit margins by bringing outsourced operations in-house and cutting various costs. As a result, both the number and value of contract orders increased during the current consolidated fiscal year, and the break-even sales level fell significantly from before. However, because many contract projects have relatively long delivery schedules, the recovery in sales under the percentage-of-completion method was gradual, and the business did not recover its previous profitability.」

「In the CMC field, we set target segments based on the gap between the outsourced-services market and current market share, clarified action items for each segment and continued sales activities. We also worked to review the service portfolio to address new modalities.」

「In the CDMO field, we worked to win new projects from major customers. As a result, the pharmaceutical ingredients field remained generally firm, supported by sales contributions from new imported generic products and intermediates, increased demand due to quality issues in the market, and strong performance from new COVID-19-related contract products and organic EL materials among our own products. By contrast, the CDMO field remained sluggish due to changes in the business environment and the impact of seasonal fluctuations in project delivery schedules.」

「In the CDMO field, we promoted stronger customer relationships and new customer development, including the launch of a comprehensive collaboration with インタープロテイン株式会社. As a result, the pharmaceutical ingredients field remained firm, supported by contributions from new generic products and new intermediates, an increase in contract products related to new COVID-19 projects, and deliveries of our own products exceeding the previous fiscal year. In the CDMO field, services based on existing technologies and new services such as bioanalysis both remained firm.」

「In the CDMO field, we expanded our service range and strengthened sales functions within the group following the integration of JITSUBO, while pursuing repeat orders from major customers and developing new customers. As a result, the CDMO field maintained stable operations, and both sales and operating profit remained firm across the business as a whole.」

「As our consolidated subsidiary スペラファーマ株式会社 acquired all shares in JITSUBO on 30 April 2021, JITSUBO has been included in the scope of consolidation from the current second-quarter consolidated accounting period.」

「Through スペラファーマ's acquisition of JITSUBO as a subsidiary, we aim to create synergies including further technological development by using our group's pharmaceutical CMC-related resources and enhancing the value chain in our pharmaceutical and cosmetics-related businesses, extending from small-molecule drugs to medium-molecule drugs such as peptides.」

「Production and orders in the CDMO field both remained firm, and overall we kept the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic limited, with performance remaining firm.」

「In the CDMO field, we worked to provide consistently high-performing services. As a result, manufacturing and sales of pharmaceutical ingredients remained generally firm. Production and orders in the CDMO field also remained firm, and overall we kept the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic limited.」

「In the CDMO field, we worked to provide consistently high-performing services. As a result, manufacturing and sales of pharmaceutical ingredients remained generally firm. Production and orders in the CDMO field also remained firm, and overall we kept the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic limited.」

「Following a resolution at a meeting of our Board of Directors held on 24 January 2020 to acquire all shares in スペラファーマ株式会社 held by 武州製薬株式会社 and make it a wholly owned subsidiary, we entered into a share transfer agreement with 武州製薬株式会社 on the same date and made スペラファーマ株式会社 a wholly owned subsidiary effective 2 March 2020.」

「Following a resolution at a meeting of our Board of Directors held on 24 January 2020 to acquire all shares in スペラファーマ株式会社 held by 武州製薬株式会社 and make it a wholly owned subsidiary, we entered into a share transfer agreement with 武州製薬株式会社 on the same date. Date of business combination: 2 March 2020 (scheduled); voting rights acquired: 100%; acquisition cost: ¥6,000 million.」