Japan Toshio Fujimoto, MBA, MD of Japan’s Shonan Health Innovation Park, gives an insider’s take on the opportunities and challenges for pharma companies in the large, innovation-friendly, but often misunderstood, Japanese market.   Japan is the world’s third-largest economy and second-largest pharmaceutical and medtech market, and yet it still holds a…

Japan In 2020, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. became Japan’s biggest drug company, driven by strong performance in recent years both from the company’s own drugs as well as those of parent company Roche. With Chugai now preparing for Phase III clinical trials for Roche’s Actemra for COVID-19, the company’s share price has…

Japan Following PharmaBoardroom’s recent interview with Ivan Cheung, chairman of Eisai’s US affiliate and president of Eisai’s global neurology business, we take the opportunity to look back on the interesting history and particularities of Japanese pharma companies’ entry and expansion into the US market.   Japan is one of the world’s…

Japan Toshio Fujimoto, MBA, MD of Japan’s Shonan Health Innovation Park explores new ways of virtual collaboration that make our lives easier while enabling us to maintain a culture of innovation and growth.   Are social distancing requirements causing the life science industry to return to an inward-looking culture of secrecy?…

Cell & Gene Therapy The completion of the Human Genome Project (HGP) in April 2003 with the publication of the first human genome sequence is probably one of the most significant landmarks in humanity’s quest for knowledge, costing USD three billion across 13 years. But even after nearly two decades, we have barely scratched…

Korea Korean biosimilar firm Celltrion’s USD 266 million acquisition of Japanese outfit Takeda assets in the Asia-Pacific region marks a significant moment in Celltrion’s international expansion as well as yet another big-money deal for Takeda.   Since Takeda’s earthshattering announcement of its intended USD 62 billion acquisition of Shire – the…

Japan Japan’s pharma market is one of the world’s biggest, with a value of around USD 95 billion, according to figures from the country’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW). Japanese firms have a particularly strong standing in their home market, making up six of the country’s top ten pharma…

Japan In April 2019, Yasuhiro Fujiwara was appointed as the new chief executive of Japan’s drug regulator and one of the world’s foremost regulatory bodies, the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA). Upon appointment, Fujiwara coined the “Four Fs” strategy, urging PMDA employees to have a “patient first,” “access first,” “safety…

Japan Japan’s Opportunity to Establish a Blueprint for the World: Janssen Japan’s Chris Hourigan makes the case for increased investment in, and access to, innovative medicines as a key solution to countering the costs associated with an ageing population.   Earlier this year, Emperor Naruhito ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne, and Japan…

Japan Already established as one of the world’s leading markets for innovative and patented drugs, Japan is set to grow rapidly in 2019, partly as a result of a dramatic uptake in generics and biosimilars.   Japan’s pharmaceutical industry has long centred on strong innovation and patented drugs, but we are…

Japan Takeda’s proposed acquisition of Shire may have come as a surprise to many commentators, but the appointment of an audacious French CEO in the form of Christophe Weber had already set the tone for the radical transformation upon which the Japanese company has embarked in its dual quest for internationalisation…

Japan Pharma Giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) are set to swallow Ci:z, the Japanese skincare and cosmetics firm.    In a move to really establish themselves within the Asian skin care market, J&J will shell out 230 billion Japanese yen ($2.05 billion) in cash to take over the share of Ci:z…