In the latest in a growing trend of pharma reshuffling moves in Asia, Marubeni Corporation is absorbing Sumitomo Pharma’s operations in Asia to create a new company with a share purchase agreement worth about 72 billion yen ($480 million).
Japanese conglomerate Marubeni is shelling out 45 billion yen ($300 million) for 60% of the issued shares of the new company, which will become Marubeni’s “pharmaceutical strategic platform” under the tentative name of Marubeni Pharmaceuticals Corporation. After 2029, Marubeni can take on the remaining 40% stake from Sumitomo for some 27 billion yen ($180 million).
The deal should help Marubeni get its sales to more than 100 billion yen ($668 million) by 2029, the company outlined in a presentation (PDF). Sumitomo’s Asia pharma business is comprised of three outfits across China and in Singapore and achieved estimated 2024 revenues of 45.8 billion yen ($305 million) in 2024.
Sumitomo’s track record in Southeast Asia and China could provide a key piece of the global puzzle that Marubeni is looking to complete, adding to previous agreements with China’s Fosun Pharmaceuticals, Middle East distribution company Lunatus and Sub-Saharan Africa’s Phillips Pharma.
Sumitomo, meanwhile, figures the deal could help it transform its fiscal year 2024 into a “turning point” for the growth of the company. Recent years have seen hundreds of layoffs at the company, to the tune of 1,260 in the U.S. as of mid-2024. With sliding sales after generics hit antipsychotic Latuda in the U.S., Sumitomo got to work on a restructuring plan.
The drugmaker largely leans on three key products in its North America business, which are overactive bladder treatment Gemtesa, prostate cancer med Orgovyx and Pfizer-partnered uterine fibroids and endometriosis med Myfembree. The three drugs will “continue to support” the company’s overall revenue generation post-Asia selloff, it noted in its release.
Just last week, Sumitomo filed three lawsuits against Apotex and Intas Pharmaceuticals in an effort to protect Gemtesa from generic competition, according to Bloomberg.
So far, 2025 has been a busy year for pharma M&A deals in Asia. In February, AstraZeneca took on FibroGen’s China business for $160 million in a deal centering on the regional rights to oral anemia drug roxadustat. Earlier that month, Bain Capital acquired Japanese drugmaker Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma for 510 billion Japanese yen ($3.3 billion), setting up an independent pharma from parent company Mitsubishi Chemical Group.