Eisai (company)

is one of the leading global pharmaceutical companies, ranking among the top 25 and achieving $8 billion USD in sales for the fiscal 2008 year. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, it has some 10,000 employees, among them about 1,500 in research. Eisai is a member of the Topix 100 and Nikkei 225 indices.

History

Nihon Eisai Co. Ltd. was established in 1941. In 1944, merger with Sakuragaoka Research Laboratory resulted in creation of Eisai Co. Ltd. The American subsidiary of the company, Eisai Inc., was established in 1995 and became one of America's fastest growing companies, reaching $1 billion in revenue within five years.

In 1996, Eisai received approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for Aricept (donepezil), a drug discovered in the company's labs and co-marketed with Pfizer. Three years later in 1999, the company received USFDA approval for Aciphex (rabeprazole), a drug co-marketed with Johnson & Johnson.

In September 2006, the company acquired four oncology products from Ligand Pharmaceuticals.

In April 2007, Eisai acquired Exton, Pennsylvania-based Morphotek, a company developing therapeutic monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and infectious diseases.

In December 2007, Eisai acquired MGI Pharma, a company specializing in oncology, for $3.9 billion USD. This event brought Dacogen (decitabine), Aloxi (palonosetron), Hexalen (altretamine) for ovarian cancer, and the Gliadel Wafer (carmustine) for brain...
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