Indian drug cos in Japan largely unaffected

Employees do fear a repetition, says Lupin President, Mr Vinod Dhawan, who has been talking to employees of the company's wholly owned subsidiary, Kyowa Yakuhin in South-West Japan, after a magnitude 9 earth-quake and tsunami hit other parts of the country.

As Japan braces for radioactive leaks, following blasts in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, Mr Dhawan clarified that Lupin's subsidiary was located about 450 km from Tokyo, also facing a radiation alert.

Attendance is normal at the office in Osaka and factory at Sanda, employees and their families are safe, he told Business Line , adding that the company was closely watching developments. There are no power outages and operations are normal, he said.

Lupin has 335 personnel at Kyowa, one of the largest generic players in the neurology segment. The company would also be donating Yen 10 million to the Japanese Red Cross, apart from medicines, he said.

Zydus, Dishman

Also in touch with employees at its wholly owned Japanese subsidiary is the management at Zydus Cadila. There has been some damage at the office and a couple of employees have lost their homes, but all 55 employees at the office and manufacturing facility on the outskirts of Tokyo are safe, Mr Ganesh Nayak, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director, told Business Line .

Dishman Pharma also has a joint venture in Japan, where it holds 85 per cent equity. The 10 employees at its sales and marketing office in Tokya are safe, said Dishman's Managing Director, Mr J.R.Vyas.

Daiichi-Sankyo hit

But Japanese drug-maker Daiichi Sankyo (which holds majority stake in Indian drugcompany Ranbaxy) has been affected by the earthquake. “There are several employees with minor injuries but all are safe and have been accounted for,” the company said. Its manufacturing facilities partly damaged by the earthquake include its Onahama plant and the Hiratsuka plant, the company said.

Daiichi Sankyo will assess the situation at production facilities after restoration of power supply and confirmation of all employee safety, its note added.

Meanwhile, work has already begun to restore operations at branches that were hit relatively hard, including the Tohoku branch (Sendai-shi, Miyagi Prefecture), the Fukushima sales office (Koriyama-shi, Fukushima Prefecture), the Mito sales office (Mito-shi, Ibaraki Prefecture) and the Gunma sales office (Takasaki-shi, Gunma Prefecture), the note said.

The company is working to restore operations at these branch offices, it said, adding that it “would announce any repercussions on Group sales affected by the disaster and the blackouts with due diligence as necessary.”

Daiichi Sankyo also announced a donation of 100 million Japanese yen through the Japanese Red Cross.

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