Government reforms in recent years have laid the foundation for robust growth in Japan’s pharmaceutical sector. A report by pharma event company CPhI predicted that 2018 would be a “transformative” year for the pharmaceutical industry in Japan. The CPhI Global Pharma Index—a study of drug companies’ perceptions—found that international respondents saw Japan as having higher growth potential than most European countries, ranking closely behind Germany and the United States. Some 59 percent of domestic respondents saw the drug biosimilars segment as having the biggest growth potential in Japan.
Under Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s “Abenomics”, Japan has moved in recent years to speed up drug approvals and encourage drug innovation as it seeks to address the needs of its rapidly aging population.