History

Astellas Pharma Inc. came about as the result of the merger of Fujisawa Pharmaceutical and Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical in 2005, creating one of the top 20 global pharmaceutical companies in terms of sales. Each of the Japanese parent companies had a long history in Japan, but only Fujisawa was established in Canada. Fujisawa's Canadian presence was attributed to the North American acquisition of Lyphomed in the early 1990s, a company in which Fujisawa had invested since 1985.

The Canadian company, the first Japanese pharmaceutical company in Canada, continued to operate as Lyphomed Canada until 1992, when it formally changed its name to Fujisawa Canada. Fujisawa Canada promoted both innovative and generic pharmaceuticals until 1998, when it divested the generic side of its business. Since then, Fujisawa Canada has operated entirely as an importer and distributor of innovative ethical pharmaceuticals.

In 2005, as a result of the global merger, the name of the company was changed to Astellas Pharma Canada. The past three years have been exciting, most notably because of Yamanouchi's rich product pipeline. Astellas has introduced four new products since the merger and looks forward to future growth in several therapeutic categories.