Yamanouchi Pharma, Fujisawa Merge to Form Astellas Pharma

Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. were merged last week by combining operations into a new corporation named Astellas Pharma Inc. The merged company ranks among the top 20 global pharmaceutical companies. In the US, Astellas will operate commercially under the name Astellas Pharma US, Inc. with headquarters located in Deerfield, Ill., an official release said here. These two Japanese pharmaceutical organizations, founded in 1894 and 1923 respectively, have complementary health care expertise, products, practices and business models.

Pharmabiz (http://www.pharmabiz.com/article/detnews.asp?articleid=26952§ionid=)