Rakuten, the world’s largest Japanese online retailer, has launched a generic rival to an anti-viral drug from Japan’s drug maker Rakuten Pharma.
Rakuten has raised $1 billion to acquire the rival drug company, a subsidiary of the worlds largest pharmaceutical company.
Rakuteon, which will sell generic versions of its Rakuten drug, is based in Osaka, Japan, according to Rakuten.
The new drug, Rakuten-3, will cost $75, which is about 2 percent cheaper than Rakuten’s current version.
The Rakuten company also plans to sell Rakuten brand-name versions of Rakuten products.
The drug has not yet been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but Rakuten said the drug is expected to be available by the end of 2018.
The company plans to start selling Rakuten branded versions of the drug on its online store in the first quarter of 2019.
Rakutys CEO Katsunobu Suga said the company aims to increase Rakutens market share from 20 percent to 30 percent by 2021, as the market for generic drugs declines.
The company also said that Rakuten plans to build Rakuten3-branded online pharmacies to sell the generic version of Rakutyn 3 to consumers.
The first Rakuten online pharmacy is expected in 2021.
Rakuten 3 was developed by a Japanese pharmaceutical company and was licensed to Rakutyne 3 by Rakuten and Rakuten Pharmaceuticals.
The generic version will be licensed to other companies and will be marketed as Rakuten (Rakutyn) 3, Suga told investors in a conference call.
Rakuthans new generic competitor has been in development for several years.
Last year, Rakutie 3 was announced to be in development by a company called Gumi.
Gumi is a Japanese company that is known for its high-end pharmaceuticals products.