is a Japanese

pharmaceutical company The pharmaceutical industry discovers, develops, produces, and markets drugs or pharmaceutical drugs for use as medications to be administered to patients (or self-administered), with the aim to cure them, vaccinate them, or alleviate sympto ...

based in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

History

Taisho was established in 1912 as Taisho Seiyakusho to produce over-the-counter drugs. In 1928 the company changed its name to Taisho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and in 1955 moved into prescription drug R&D. It introduced its over-the-counter medications like cough suppressant in 1927, pain reliever in 1967 and an antiulcer agent in 1984. In 2019 Taisho bought French pharmaceutical manufacturer UPSA from Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Products

The company's principal line of business is over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, where it markets the brands

Lipovitan , marketed in some English-speaking countries under the name Libogen and Livita, is an energy drink manufactured by Taisho Pharmaceutical Co. and its licensee Osotspa. Widely available in Asia, it retails in brown-colored translucent 100 ml ...

-D, Pabron, Colac, Contac, Tempra, UPSA,

Vicks Vicks is an American brand of over-the-counter medications owned by the American companies Procter & Gamble and Helen of Troy Limited. Vicks manufactures NyQuil and its sister medication, DayQuil as well as other medications in the “Quil” lin ...

and Kampo In prescription pharmaceuticals, the company's most successful product to date has been the macrolide

antibiotic An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention of ...

clarithromycin. The company's branded version of the drug, Clarith, was launched in Japan in 1991. For clarithromycin distribution outside Japan Taisho licensed clarithromycin to

Abbott Laboratories Abbott Laboratories is an American multinational medical devices and health care company with headquarters in Abbott Park, Illinois, United States. The company was founded by Chicago physician Wallace Calvin Abbott in 1888 to formulate known dr ...

Ownership

Taisho Pharmaceutical's stock is traded on the

Tokyo Stock Exchange The , abbreviated as Tosho () or TSE/TYO, is a stock exchange located in Tokyo, Japan. It is the third largest stock exchange in the world by aggregate market capitalization of its listed companies, and the largest in Asia. It had 2,292 listed co ...

and the principal owners of the firm are the Uehara family name.

Sponsorships

Taisho has sponsored the

Japan national rugby union team The Japan national rugby union team, often known as the Cherry Blossoms, Sakura, and more recently The Brave Blossoms (''ブレイブ・ブロッサムズ - Bureibu burossamuzu'') is traditionally the strongest rugby union power in Asia and has ...

since 2001. The company is also an Official Sponsor of the

Rugby World Cup 2019 The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...

, which will take place in Japan.

References

External links

* Pharmaceutical companies of Japan Pharmaceutical companies based in Tokyo Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Pharmaceutical companies established in 1912 Japanese companies established in 1912 Japanese brands {{med-company-stub