Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals said on Thursday it has formed a subsidiary in Japan to tap the growing generics market in that country.

Orchid informed the Bombay Stock Exchange about the formation of its wholly-owned subsidiary Orchid Pharma Japan K K.

The company said the Japanese generics market is estimated to double from the current $2.5 billion to $5 billion over the next five years.

Orchid, with its comprehensive range of antibiotic and lifestyle products, is positioned to meet a broad spectrum of acute and chronic therapy needs of the growing Japanese healthcare market.

Orchid is set to achieve a similar presence in the European antibiotics generics space for which over 15 dossiers have already been filed with European regulatory authorities, it added.

"We expect the Japanese generic market to grow rapidly over the next few years. We expect to be among the leading players in this market with a turnover of about $100 million in about five years' time", he added.

Orchid Chemicals has recently been in news on reports linked to a hostile takeover bid by pharmaceutical major Ranbaxy Laboratories [Get Quote]. However, Ranbaxy said on Wednesday that it does not believe in such takeovers.

Shares of Orchid Chemicals closed down 1.68 per cent at Rs 228.70 on the BSE today. The company's scrip had surged over 30 per cent on speculations of the takeover deal on the first two days of this week. However, it had settled down 3 per cent on Wednesday.