Interview with Tapani Sura, General Manager, Astellas Poland
You were appointed general manager of Astellas Poland in early 2006, only a bit after Astellas Pharma Inc. was established, on April 1, 2005 through the merger of the mother…
Address: Osmanska 14 str.
02-823 Warsaw
Poland
Tel: +48 22 545 11 11
Over the past ten years, Astellas has built a strong position in Urology, Transplantation, and Antibiotics in the Polish market.
Therapy Areas
Transplantation
Urology
Dermatology
Gastroenterology
A Brief History
Astellas Pharma Sp. z o.o. was registered in August 2005 after the merger of the mother companies Yamanouchi and Fujisawa. Its predecessor, Yamanouchi Pharma Sp. z o.o., began its operation in 1999. Before that the business was handled through the Warsaw branch office of Yamanouchi, which was opened in 1992. Fujisawa Branch Office was opened in 2000.
Local Pharmaceutical Market Conditions
After a fast period of growth from 1991 to 2002, the Polish pharmaceutical market has become turbulent because of fast and sometimes unpredictable changes in reimbursement, pricing, and regulations. This has been the case especially when it comes to innovative pharma companies. As a matter of fact, apart from sartans, the last NCEs entered the reimbursement list in 1998. The policy of the Ministry of Health has been and still is to support local industry and generics producers. However, the size of the country (close to 40 million people) still makes it an attractive market.
Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd. is focused on five key therapeutic areas: Transplantation, Urology, Dermatology, Anti-infectives, and Pain Management. In addition, Astellas remains committed to improving the lives of patients with a number of other diseases, including Diabetes and Cardiovascular, CNS, Respiratory, and Gastrointestinal. As an organisation, Astellas is focused on and committed to its R&D programmes and is driven by its philosophy of enriching the lives of people around the world.
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