The strengthened partnership is an important testament to DKSH Hong Kong’s capability to introduce quality pharma brands into the Hong Kong and Macau markets.
Hong Kong, January 11, 2022 – DKSH Business Unit Healthcare, a leading partner for healthcare companies seeking to grow their business in Asia and beyond, and Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. (hereinafter, “Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals Asia Pacific”), have reinforced their existing strategic partnership. The service contract will remain a full agency model, covering marketing and sales, supply chain management, and other key commercial services for Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals Asia Pacific’s drug brands, LATUDA® (lurasidone hydrochloride).
This extended agreement is a milestone for the partnership, marking six years of successful collaboration for the two companies that first engaged in 2015, starting with DKSH Thailand and Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co., Ltd., parent company of Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals Asia Pacific, and proceeding to include Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals Asia Pacific in April 2019. In addition to the Hong Kong market, Pharmaceuticals Asia Pacific and its affiliate are also DKSH’s strategic partner in Singapore and Thailand. These alliances have been essential in providing blanket coverage in the three regions and lay a solid foundation for reaching the neighboring Asia Pacific regions.
LATUDA® is an antipsychotic medication to treat schizophrenia patients in Hong Kong. DKSH’s Healthcare team will continue to widen and deepen its presence and adoption in both Hong Kong and Macau. The key focus areas for DKSH include drug enlistment at the Local Hospital Authority, application for bipolar indication, and introduction to private hospitals.
Yoshitaka Koketsu, Managing Director of Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals Asia Pacific, said: “DKSH is a trusted business partner for us. We are pleased that we could extend our business collaboration with DKSH Hong Kong. We also believe that this extension will secure a more stable and long-term supply of valuable medicines to patients in Hong Kong.”
Wai Ting Fong, Head of Management and Vice President, Healthcare, DKSH Hong Kong, expressed his appreciation for the extended partnership: “We would like to thank Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals Asia Pacific for entrusting our team to roll out their quality drug brand. Our Healthcare team values the long-term relationship formed. The extension also underlines our service excellence and expertise in effectively bringing our clients’ brands into markets.”
About Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma
Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals Asia Pacific, as the Singapore subsidiary of Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma in Japan continues the corporate mission to broadly contribute to society through value creation based on innovative research and development activities for the betterment of healthcare and fuller lives of people in the Asia Pacific region and aims to support Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma to become a global specialized player. The company's area of focus includes research on psychiatry and neurology, oncology, and regenerative medicine and cell therapy. For more details, please visit Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma’s website: www.ds-pharma.com.
About DKSH
DKSH’s purpose is to enrich people’s lives. For more than 150 years, we have been delivering growth for companies in Asia and beyond across our Business Units Healthcare, Consumer Goods, Performance Materials, and Technology. As a leading Market Expansion Services provider, we offer sourcing, market insights, marketing and sales, eCommerce, distribution and logistics as well as after-sales services. Listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange, DKSH operates in 36 markets with 32,450 specialists, generating net sales of CHF 10.7 billion in 2020. www.dksh.com