Japan’s Towa saw 4.6% growth in domestic sales in the first nine months of FY21, on the back of new launches, as the coronavirus pandemic had only a “minor” effect on its business. But while the firm’s launch schedule for new products remains unaffected so far, the company pointed out that there may be slight delays in product development plans going ahead.

After seeing a spike in demand due to the coronavirus pandemic in Q1, with a corresponding dip in Q2, the generics industry has largely seen single-digit drops in net revenues in the third quarter of 2020. Meanwhile, the Indian pharma market has seen recovery after facing a challenging coronavirus-induced slump in the first two quarters of 2020.

Sawai has launched what it says is Japan’s first generic version of Pfizer’s Lyrica pregabalin brand, with other Japanese generics firms waiting in the wings.