Osaka-based pharmaceutical firm Shionogi & Co. will establish a local subsidiary in Singapore by the end of this year to serve as its main base in Southeast Asia, company officials said.

The company plans to launch new drugs in the region, the officials said.

Shionogi also has an eye on expanding its business in Europe by using its development base in London, they added.

Expansion of overseas operations has been a major challenge for the pharmaceuticals firm, whose overseas sales accounted for only 35 percent of overall consolidated sales in the business year ended last March, compared with more than 50 percent for Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.

Shionogi aims to achieve consolidated sales of ¥600 billion in the business year through March 2021, of which more than half is expected to come from overseas businesses.