Otsuka opens subsidiary in Australia

Japanese drugmaker Otsuka Pharmaceutical (TYO: 4578) has established a direct presence in Australia. A new office has been opened in Sydney to bring innovative new medicines to patients in Australia and as a foundation on which to build a larger, long-term presence in Australia and elsewhere in Oceania.

Otsuka is committed to the development of innovative new drugs for central nervous system disorders such as schizophrenia, depression and Alzheimer’s disease, areas where patients in Australia and elsewhere await better treatments. There are an estimated 285,000 people in Australia with schizophrenia, one million with depression and 298,000 with dementia, a significant number of whom have dementia of the Alzheimer’s type.

The Australian drug market has experienced single-digit percentage growth in the past several years and was estimated to be worth around $13 billion, placing it 12th in size in the world.