Astellas Pharma Inc. said Tuesday it will hire former Pfizer Inc. executive Steven Ryder to head a global development center in the U.S. to speed the release of new medicines in its fastest-growing market.
Ryder, who was senior vice president of global research and development at Pfizer, will join Astellas next month as president of Astellas Pharma Global Development Inc. based in Deerfield, Ill., the company said.
The new division will "optimize development strategies" and coordinate global projects, Tokyo-based Astellas said.
Astellas, Japan's second-largest drugmaker, follows bigger rival Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., and Daiichi Sankyo Co. and Eisai Co. in focusing global development operations in the U.S., said Yo Mizuno, an equities analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research.
Expanding overseas will help Astellas offset an erosion in earnings caused by biennial cuts to the price of prescription drugs mandated by Japan.
Domestic sales accounted for about 54 percent of revenue in the year that ended last March. It will be less than 50 percent in the current year, Astellas said.
Ryder will report directly to President Masafumi Nogimori and will be the most senior non-Japanese executive in the company.
Ryder, who graduated from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 1974, joined New York-based Pfizer in 1987 and has worked in drug development for more than 21 years, Astellas said.