Japan's Kyorin Pharmaceuticals has revealed that it will build a new formulation plant at its Noshiro facility in Akita prefecture.

The company will invest around 8 billion yen (€60.5m) in the current Good Manufacturing Practice-compliant plant, construction of which will start in 2004 with operations scheduled to begin in 2006, according to Pharma Japan.

The company explained that the decision to commit to this investment was in response to the amended Pharmaceutical Affairs Law, which amongst other things switched Japan's pharmaceutical regulatory system from one based on marketing approval rather than manufacturing clearance. Implemented last year, the revised PAL also allows firms which do not have production facilities to contract out drug manufacture.

Following completion of the facility, Kyorin plans to actively outsource the manufacture of products with small sales volumes and technologically-established items and, once this process is completed, it will close its Nogi plant in Tochigi prefecture and shift from its current three facilities to a two-plant (Noshiro and Okaya) production system from April 2006.