Easing of Generic Drug Demand and Slowdown in Demand for Pharmaceutical Raw Materials

「The generic drug market, a key customer area for the pharmaceutical ingredients division, is expected to become an environment in which the pharmaceutical industry will be required to consolidate products and manufacture and supply active pharmaceutical ingredients with greater supply stability, as the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare considers new measures to ensure a stable supply of finished drugs.」

「In the prescription drug market, following various problems with the manufacturing control of generic drugs in December 2021, more than 10 companies received business suspension or improvement orders, while sales discontinuations and shipment suspensions also occurred frequently. To restore confidence, companies are focusing on initiatives to thoroughly enforce manufacturing and quality control, compliance and governance.」

「In the pharmaceutical ingredients market, sluggish product movements resulting from the impact of COVID-19 have continued. In addition, the company is in a situation where it must respond to fluctuations in procurement prices caused by the yen's rapid depreciation and surging ingredient prices.」

「In the pharmaceutical ingredients sector, as no recovery in demand was expected due to the impact of COVID-19, efforts focused on responding to price increases resulting from higher raw material costs, delivering newly imported generic active pharmaceutical ingredients and intermediates, and expanding sales of proprietary products. As a result, the pharmaceutical ingredients sector remained firm, supported by sales contributions from new generic products and new intermediates, an increase in contract-manufactured products from new COVID-19-related projects, and proprietary product deliveries exceeding the previous fiscal year.」

「In the pharmaceutical ingredients sales business, weak sales of active pharmaceutical ingredients for OTC products, including cold remedies, and weak sales of ingredients for domestic generic drugs were offset by the adoption of new generic products and other factors, resulting in firm performance.」

「In the pharmaceutical ingredients market, the impact of COVID-19 has continued, and falling prescription volumes accompanying a decline in the number of medical consultations have resulted in a severe situation in which inventories of drugs and pharmaceutical ingredients are not moving.」

「In the pharmaceutical ingredients market, sales remained firm despite weak performance by active pharmaceutical ingredients for OTC products, including cold remedies, both in Japan and overseas, and weaker-than-usual sales of ingredients for domestic generic drugs, due to positive factors including the adoption of new generic products and strong sales of gastrointestinal drug ingredients, as well as contributions from the CDMO business.」

「In the generic drug market, the effects of government measures to promote generic drug use have reached a plateau, while demand for products related to COVID-19 continues to expand in the OTC drug market.」

「The generic drug market has remained firm as the effects of government measures to promote generic drug use have continued, while pharmaceutical ingredients have shifted back to domestic products as companies have placed greater emphasis on stable procurement following repeated explosions at Chinese chemical manufacturers.」

「In the pharmaceutical ingredients sector, amid a situation in which securing profits is difficult due to deferred purchases and requests for price reductions ahead of a drug price revision accompanying the consumption tax increase,」

「In the pharmaceutical raw materials market, many generic drug manufacturers were reducing inventories and holding back on purchases ahead of the drug price revision accompanying the October revision to the Consumption Tax Act. In addition, intermediate production in China came to a halt following an explosion in Jiangsu Province, leaving some Japanese raw material manufacturers unable to produce. The industry as a whole remained sluggish.」

「In the pharmaceutical ingredients market, generic drug manufacturers have increasingly requested price reductions as market expansion has slowed and profitability has declined following the April 2018 drug price revision, while changes in ingredient suppliers and contract manufacturing aimed at reducing costs have accelerated.」

「In the pharmaceutical ingredients sector, amid negative factors including a slowdown in the growth of generic drugs' volume share and surging crude oil and imported raw material prices,」

「As a result, sales from the adoption of new intermediates by innovative drug manufacturers increased, but sales of pharmaceutical ingredients to generic drug manufacturers remained sluggish.」

「As a result, sales of pharmaceutical ingredients to generic drug manufacturers remained sluggish, while sales to innovative drug manufacturers grew as new intermediates were adopted and existing pharmaceutical ingredients were switched.」

「In the pharmaceutical raw materials and pharmaceutical markets, growth in the generic drug market driven by the government's measures to promote generic drug use has been slowing, prompting generic drug manufacturers to adjust their raw material inventories.」

「In the pharmaceutical and pharmaceutical raw materials markets, demand for generic drugs, which had continued to expand as a result of the government's measures to promote generic drug use, has shown signs of leveling off, while demand for pharmaceutical raw materials has also been slowing.」