Sun has now found a commercial partner in Japan for a bundle of mature products the Indian firm acquired from Novartis earlier this year, in an alliance expected to rapidly boost its presence in this key market and which some say might be expanded.

Kyowa, the Japanese arm of Indian major Lupin, is buying a basket of mature products including CNS drugs Rhythmy and Resmit from Shionogi. As innovator companies seek to shed older products in Japan, generic firms, especially Indian ones, are taking advantage to expand in the world's second largest pharmaceutical market.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has closed out its "turnaround year" on target, meeting guidance for fiscal 2015. The company has been undergoing a reorganization to pull it through intense generic competition and CEO Christophe Weber took the year-end opportunity to outline how the strategy was playing out for Japanese pharma.