Ajinomoto Co. will pay as much as ¥10 billion to buy the Japanese rights to develop and sell a drug for treating ulcerative colitis.

A contract with German drugmaker Dr. Falk Pharma GmbH is scheduled to be signed this month, Ajinomoto spokeswoman Michiko Wada said. Regulatory approval to sell Salofalk, a treatment for ulcerative colitis, may be gained as early as 2011.

The Tokyo-based food maker aims to increase sales of medical products by 20 percent to ¥100 billion in five years.