Rates of cancer have risen dramatically in Asia, where more than six million people are diagnosed with the disease every year. That number now accounts for 50 percent of new global cases. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the occurrence of... Read More
Cardiovascular disease is common in Asia, where it is a leading cause of death in countries from Japan to India to China. Of the 17.3 million deaths caused by cardiovascular disease each year, nearly 60 percent occur in Asia, according to the... Read More
With one of the world's largest economies, Japan is an attractive market for Western medical device, pharmaceutical and biotech companies. However, many Westerners struggle with understanding Japanese culture and business etiquette when they are registering their products, licensing their technology, or dealing... Read More
Important players in the consumer healthcare industry have been pushing Asian regulators to increase access to self-care products and loosen the rules surrounding their advertising and sales. As populations from Japan to China suffer increasingly from chronic and age related diseases, industry... Read More
In 2009 an ordinance was issued by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry prohibiting the sale of most OTC drugs online. Many ordinary OTC drugs such as gastrointestinal and cold medicine were classified as high risk and were limited to brick and... Read More
Japan’s Ministry of Health and Labour Welfare (MHLW) announced an update on reimbursement prices for medical devices in 2012. The update includes increased reimbursement for products which have innovative technology. This new incentive for innovative products is intended to encourage manufactures to... Read More
Japan’s Ministry of Health and Labor Welfare (MHLW) announced its third action plan to stimulate clinical research and trials in Japan on October 15th, 2012. The plan will attempt to boost efficiency, cost optimization, a staff training and patient education to encourage... Read More
Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) is aiming to revise the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (PAA) to expedite the approval of for tissue-engineered medical products (TEPs). The MHLW is considering a new system that would create an exception for TEPs in... Read More
Japan’s three major causes of death for years have been cancer, heart disease, and hypertension (cerebrovascular disease). However, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare revealed that in 2011, pneumonia had supplanted hypertension as the third leading cause of death in the... Read More
Starting next year, Japan’s Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) will increase its capacity to provide medical companies with face-to-face regulatory strategy consulting. As of September 2012, the PMDA has handled about 50 face-to-face pre-consultation sessions per year, and it intends to... Read More