In May, Kracie Pharmaceutical completed construction of a new plant in Weihai City, Shandong Province, China, with an investment of about 4 billion yen, and will officially start production this autumn.
Kracie Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Japan’s Kracie Holdings, which is involved in the Chinese medicine business, completed construction of a new factory in Weihai, Shandong Province, China, in May to expand its production system for Chinese medicine. Production will begin this autumn. Due to aging and other reasons, the demand for Chinese medicine is increasing in Japan, and stress-relieving products for general consumers are selling well. After the new plant is put into operation, a stable supply system will be formed.
In Japan, Chinese Medicine drugs are divided into Over-the-counter drug sold in pharmacies and prescription drugs requiring doctors to prescribe. Kracie Pharmaceutical has become the largest enterprise in Japan in the field of over-the-counter Chinese prescription drugs. The company has processed APIs in two factories in Qingdao City, Shandong Province, and Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture, China. Through this new factory, with this new plant, we plan to respond to the increased production of prescription and over-the-counter Chinese prescription drugs.
Kracie Pharmaceuticals extracts essence by boiling herbs as raw materials in the manufacturing process of Chinese herbal medicines, and makes powder after drying to form the state of “extract powder”. Afterwards, products such as tablets and granules are made. The new factory can produce up to 400 tons of extract powder annually, and there is also a storage warehouse that can store approximately 3200 tons of herbal medicine. At the same time, a layout has been adopted that can be further expanded to cope with future changes in demand.
Domestic demand for both prescription and over-the-counter Chinese medicine is expected to expand in the future due to the aging of the population and the penetration of self-medicated medicines that are purchased to solve minor ailments. According to research firm INTAGE Healthcare, the market for over-the-counter Chinese medicines in Japan has been growing slightly over the past six years, reaching 54.5 billion yen in 2017 and 62.8 billion yen in 2022. In 2021, due to the impact of the novel coronavirus epidemic, the sales of cold medicines declined, and the overall sales decreased for a time, but it recovered in 2022.
Kracie Pharmaceuticals launched the over-the-counter Chinese herbal medicine brand “Kampo Therapy”, with sales of 3 billion yen in 2017 and approximately doubling to 6.6 billion yen in 2022. In March, as a product to solve the “mental fatigue caused by stress” and other problems, “JPS Chaihu Guizhi Ganjiang Decoction essence Tablets N” (8 days, 2640 yen) was launched. Due to the continuous growth in demand for drugs to alleviate stress, the company will continue to develop related drugs to alleviate stress.
The brand currently has 64 products, in addition to traditional Chinese medicine for treating colds and rhinitis, as well as various drugs for treating colds, hypertension, swelling, and urinary problems. In 2022, sales of “Maimendong Tang” for treating cough and phlegm and “Bawei Dihuang Wan” for treating frequent urination increased. The company hopes to further promote Chinese herbal medicine in Japan and will also be committed to promoting it to users and distributors.