New Delhi : Daiichi Sankyo, the Japanese drug company that has majority stake in India's largest one, Ranbaxy, on March 13 said it expected an 80 per cent increase in the latter's income over the next two years as it embarked on a medium-term growth plan next month.

Daiichi expected Ranbaxy, whose consolidated annual income was Rs 7,597 crore for 2009, to register an annual turnover of Rs 14,000 crore in 2012. The key to Ranbaxy's growth would be how soon it resolved pending issues with the United States' drug regulator, the Food and Drugs Administration, and resumed volume supplies to the world's biggest medicine market, Daiichi Sankyo said in a statement issued in Tokyo.

"Because of the U.S. import bans, we have been unable to achieve the synergies we had planned. This will be our key challenge in the next three years," Daiichi Sankyo's president, Takashi Shoda, told reporters. Daiichi also announced plans to set up a subsidiary in Japan to market off-patent medicines of Ranbaxy in that country. The company, Daiichi Sankyo Espha Co Ltd, is expected to begin operations in October.

In addition, the company intended to develop additional synergies with Ranbaxy to generate sales of at least Yen 150 billion (Rs 7,534 crore) from emerging markets. Daiichi said it wanted Ranbaxy to become the top player, from the current second place, in the Indian pharmaceutical market and to expand its presence in Latin American and African markets during the period. "The Daiichi plan will really trigger growth for Ranbaxy. Of the projected sales, $700-800 million will come from the Lipitor sales that will kick off in November 2011. Even if we discount that onetime upside, the growth is very promising. The synergy with Daiichi and exponential growth in the Indian formulations market will be the key reason for this," said Sriram Rathi, analyst with Centrum Broking.