Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Astellas Pharma Inc., Japan's second- largest drugmaker, opened an office in Mumbai, paving the way for entry into India's $6.2 billion pharmaceutical market.

The office, opened a week ago, will give Astellas a foothold in Asia's fourth-largest drugs market, the Tokyo-based company said in a statement on its Web site today. Asia, excluding Japan, accounted for less than 3 percent of Astellas's revenue in the year ended March 31.

Tapping the world's second-most populous country will help the company find more patients for its bladder control treatment Vesicare and Prograf, used to prevent rejection in organ transplant patients. It will also help Astellas offset prescription-drug price cuts by Japan's government.

India's pharmaceutical market may expand by more than 12 percent a year, reaching $20 billion by 2015, McKinsey & Co. said in a report in August.

``The market is expected to expand further,'' spurred by new intellectual property regulations in 2005, Astellas said in the statement. The company ``is aiming at further business expansion within Asia,'' it said.

Japanese pharmaceutical market will grow 1 percent to 2 percent in 2008, less than half this year's forecast pace, said IMS Health Inc., a Norwalk, Connecticut health-research firm. Global industry growth will be 5 percent to 6 percent next year, IMS said in a statement yesterday.

Astellas fell 50 yen, or 1 percent, to 5,190 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The shares have declined 4.1 percent this year, compared with an 11 percent drop in the exchange's 34- member Topix Pharmaceutical Index.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kanoko Matsuyama in Tokyo at at kmatsuyama2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 2, 2007 02:40 EDT