Takeda Pharmaceutical, Japan's largest drugmaker, may look for acquisitions in India to boost its presence in Asia's third-largest economy, the Financial Express reported on Wednesday.
The company has appointed Shankar Suryanarayanan, who has previously worked with Swiss drugmakers Roche and Novartis, as head of its India operations, the newspaper said, without quoting any sources.
Officials at Takeda in Tokyo could not immediately be reached for a comment.
Takeda's president said on Monday the company could acquire a company to help it enter the generic drug business in emerging markets.
Global pharmaceutical companies are increasingly turning their attention to emerging markets and to generics as they face tougher safety and cost hurdles for new drugs in developed markets and as their existing top sellers go off-patent.
Takeda's Japanese rival, Daiichi Sankyo, bought a majority stake in generics drug maker Ranbaxy Laboratories, India''s largest pharmaceutical company by sales, last year.
The Financial Express said Suryanarayanan was scouting the Indian market to look for opportunities to partner with large drug makers, and the company might also pick up a minority stake in such firms.
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