Recent Signs have Shown That Japan Is Attempting To Improve The Drug Approval Process and Move More Into Line With Western Countries Regarding Regulatory Laws - 'The Pharmaceutical Market: Japan'.

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c44139) has announced the addition of Espicom Business IntelligenceeIUs report The Pharmaceutical Market: Japan to their offering.

These in-depth pharmaceutical market reports are ideal for executives wanting to understand the key drivers in pharmaceutical markets and have access to a wealth of statistical data. Each report opens with an outlook section that provides analysis of the market, 5-year market forecasts, national data projections, market outlook and key developments such as regulation, pricing/reimbursement, intellectual property, health facilities and government policy. The report also provides extensive background information, population trends, health status, health expenditure, organisation & administration, hospital services, medical personnel, healthcare development, market access information, trade data for raw materials and finished products and essential industry contacts. Included with the report are 3 free quarterly updated outlook reports, enabling you to keep up to date with market developments for a year.

Content Outline:

1. Executive Summary

2. Pharmaceutical Market

3. Key National Data Projections

4. Geography

5. Political Overview

6. Economic Overview

7. Population

8. Demographic Indicators

9. Mortality

10. Morbidity 

11. Organisation & Administration

12. Health Expenditure

13. Hospital Services

14. Ambulatory Care 

15. Medical Personnel

16. Regulatory Environment

17. Distribution Channels

18. Pharmaceutical Imports

19. Domestic Production & Exports

20. Directory

Despite its prolonged economic troubles in recent years, Japan remains the worldeIUs second largest pharmaceutical market, after the USA. It also remains one of the less penetrable. A strong and highly advanced domestic manufacturing industry, an opaque regulatory system and extensive cultural differences make the Japanese market a difficult and long-term prospect. There have however been recent signs that Japan is attempting to improve the drug approval process and move more into line with Western countries regarding regulatory laws. Significant cuts in government reimbursement levels in recent years have affected the market for pharmaceuticals, already depressed by the countryeIUs faltering economy, while recent court judgements have weakened the countryeIUs intellectual property laws. The overall costs of healthcare threatened to bankrupt the health insurance system in 2002, and have lead to a greater focus on price cuts as a politically easier alternative to widespread reform of the healthcare system, and these have been introduced by the MHLW, in the face of staunch opposition by drug manufacturers.

Increases in health insurance payments from workers and the gradual eradication of over-prescribing by doctors through effective legislation and the promotion of cheaper generic products all provide the government with the potential for easing the healthcare expenditure burden. This is in spite of the disquiet of domestic pharmaceutical firms and to the detriment of market growth.

In April 2000, the Japanese government promised measures to streamline the regulatory process and to make that process more transparent to outsiders, a promise reaffirmed at the subsequent G8 summit. Much of this has been at the behest of the USA, Japans leading supplier of pharmaceuticals. The newly created PMDA agency has been introduced in 2004, in an attempt to improve drug approval times and bring them more in to line with their US and European counterparts. The market is therefore increasingly open to overseas products, and many domestic companies are being forced into measures such as mergers and expansion of R&D facilities in a bid to ensure survival in the marketplace.

In 2001, in an unprecedented move, Roche succeeded in negotiating the acquisition of Chugai and more recently, in 2003 Merck & Co. acquired 100% ownership of Banyu Pharmaceuticals. There is still a long way to go, however; Japans political system is not geared towards rapid reforms. There is little immediate prospect of a Mutual Recognition Agreement between Japan and the worlds other major regulators, and backsliding on the part of Japanese regulators is feared by many. The introduction of a reference pricing system was abandoned in 1999, although many suspect it may re-emerge in the near future. In addition to increased multinational activity, the creation of Astellas Pharma Inc through the merger between Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical and Fujisawa, and the proposed merger between two of JapaneIUs leading drug companies, Sankyo and Daiichi, promises to boost the domestic production sector and perhaps herald a new era for the industry, where the nationeIUs leading manufacturers are increasingly being forced to forge agreements with each other to enable them to compete with rivals from overseas.

The best future prospects in the Japanese medical sector are related to the care of the elderly. The number of people aged 65 and over will exceed 25% of the population over the next 20 years. April 2000 saw the introduction of Japans major new insurance system for care of the elderly. The initial annual cost of this scheme is estimated at US$40 billion or around 15% of total healthcare expenditure.

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c44139