Johnson & Johnson's McNeil and Takeda Announce Strategic Alliance to Market OTC Products in Japan

Business Wire, Sept 18, 1997

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 18, 1997--Johnson & Johnson's (NYSE:JNJ) McNeil Consumer Products Company (McNeil) and Takeda Consumer Healthcare Company, a division of Takeda Chemical Industries, Ltd., (NIKKEI:TAKEDA), announced today an alliance to market non-prescription healthcare products in Japan.

The agreement marks the first time McNeil's over-the-counter products will be marketed in Japan, the second largest market in the world after the U.S. Takeda is the largest Japan-based pharmaceutical company and ranks second in the over-the-counter (OTC) category, with a strong desire to become the OTC leader in Japan.

"Takeda's unique ability to reach consumers and its reverence for innovation made it the ideal partner for us," said Larry Pickering, Johnson & Johnson company group chairman. "The contributions to the marketplace introduced by this alliance promise to benefit both companies and, more importantly, the Japanese consumer."

"Our two companies share a culture shaped by a rich medical and scientific heritage, a strong commitment to respond to the needs of the consumer, and the traditional values of worldwide leaders in the health care marketplace," said Takemasa Ohta, president of Takeda Consumer Healthcare Company.

An expansion in the highly competitive Japanese OTC marketplace means the timing is ideal to introduce McNeil products there. Japanese market forces that will affect the OTC climate include: an aging population, product and category switches from prescription to OTC status and a shift in distribution channels to increase consumer availability.

The long-term agreement between McNeil and Takeda includes commitments from both companies to share technology, leverage marketing and sales expertise, and distribute specially formulated McNeil consumer healthcare products in Japan. Initially, Takeda will distribute several forms of Tylenol(R) (acetaminophen), introducing new delivery forms to the Japanese market.

Used as directed, the medicine in Tylenol(R) is the safest type of OTC pain reliever on the market. In Tylenol's 30 years of availability, more than 240 billion tablets have been consumed globally.

Founded in 1781, Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd. has six business divisions (Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Healthcare, Bulk Vitamin and Food, Chemical Products, Agro and Life/Environment) with OTC pharmaceutical products that include health drinks, vitamins and minerals, digestive health products, cold remedies, topical skin care products, and pain relievers.

McNeil Consumer Products traces its roots to 1879 and has been a Johnson & Johnson company since 1959. McNeil manufactures the complete line of Tylenol (acetaminophen) products for adults and children, and markets Nicotrol (smoking cessation products), Imodium AD (anti-diarrheal) and Lactaid supplements for people who have trouble digesting dairy products. McNeil recently acquired the rights to market Motrin (ibuprofen) worldwide OTC, strengthening McNeil's position in the worldwide analgesic category.

Johnson & Johnson is the world's most comprehensive manufacturer of health care products serving the consumer, pharmaceutical, diagnostics and professional markets. It has 164 operating companies, marketing products in more than 175 countries. In Japan those include Janssen-Kyowa (a joint venture of prescription products), Johnson & Johnson KK (J&J consumer products) and Johnson & Johnson Medical KK (J&J professional products).

CONTACT: Johnson & Johnson USA

Jeff Leebaw, 908/524-3350

or

Takeda Consumer Healthcare Company

Mr. Naohide Muro, 011-81-3-3278-2505