International healthcare services company UDG Healthcare has formalised its partnership with Japanese firm CMIC by creating a joint venture.
UDG will take a 49.9% stake in the joint venture, which will be called CMIC Ashfield.
The company said that the existing partnership, which began in 2012, has been very successful so far. It achieved strong growth and reached profitability ahead of schedule in the first half of this year.
The joint venture further strengthens UDG Healthcare's CSO business in Japan, and is in line with the group's overall strategy of expansion in growth markets, the company added.
"Our partnership with CMIC in the Japanese market has already delivered excellent results and has far exceeded our initial expectations," commented the company's chief executive Liam FitzGerald.
"CMIC is well established in the Japanese market and will further strengthen UDG Healthcare's presence in the second largest global pharmaceutical market. With our combined resources and expertise, we look forward to fully developing a market leading contract sales business in Japan providing evidence-based solutions for the healthcare industry," he added.
