The Japanese Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Report Q2 2008 is out Now

Business Wire,  May 14, 2008  

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c91537) has announced the addition of "Japan Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Report Q2 2008" to their offering.

The Japan Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Report provides independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on Japans pharmaceuticals and healthcare industry.

Japan's pharmaceutical market is currently valued at US$74.4bn and is easily the most mature in the Asia Pacific region. Top-line sales stagnated for the first time in 2006 and this scenario is likely to be repeated in 2007. However, this is a temporary trend as the country's vast ageing population will cause the market to expand once again. By 2012, we expect the value of market to reach US$82.0bn.

The country's generics sector is one of the most promising in our coverage universe. In an effort to control ballooning healthcare costs, the ministry of health plans to raise the volumes share of generics within the total prescription market to at least 30% by 2012. The current value of the sector is US$5.5bn, which equates to 7.3% of total medicines sales. Changes to prescribing procedures and the influx of foreign firms with low-cost goods will provide a stimulus to the generic drug sector.

It has emerged that the debilitating and sometime deadly viral condition hepatitis C is grossly underdiagnosed in Japan. Spurred on by a tainted blood scandal, the government is looking to increase awareness of the disease, which is estimated to affect 1.4% of the population, or 1.75mn people. The author believes that this campaign will provide a boost for manufacturers of testing kits and pharmaceutical companies that sell hepatitis C therapeutics, such as Switzerland's Roche and US firm Schering-Plough.

For fiscal-year 2008, the budget for the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) was been increased by 3.0% to JPY222bn (US$221bn). This compares favourably to overall economic growth in 2007, which was estimated to be 2.6% by our Country Risk team. Within the MHLWs spending plan, emphasis has been placed on cancer prevention, medical research and development (R&D), hepatitis countermeasures, and stem cell research. Worryingly for drugmakers, funding for accelerated access to pharmaceuticals has been cut.

During Q108, Novartis became the latest multinational to scale back its research operations in Japan, with the planned closure of a facility in Tsukuba near Tokyo by the end of 2008. In recent years, numerous international drugmakers - Pfizer, Schering AG and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) - have reduced their R&D footprint in Japan.

Contents:

Executive Summary
Japan Pharmaceuticals And Healthcare Industry SWOT
Japan Political SWOT
Japan Economic SWOT
Pharmaceutical Business Environment Ratings
Table: Asia Pacific Pharmaceutical Business Environment Rankings, Q208
Limits Of Potential Returns
Risks To Realisation Of Returns
Japan - Market Summa
Regulatory Regime
Case Study: Wyeth's Prevnar and Japanese Drug Lag
Recent Regulatory Developments
Medical Device Regulations
Intellectual Property Developments
Pricing And Reimbursement System
Table: Reimbursement Categories And Rates
Recent Pricing And Reimbursement Developments
Other Regulatory Issues
Table: Concerns Of Pharmaceutical Associations
Industry Trends And Developments
Epidemiology
Table: Mortality By Cause In Japan
Healthcare Sector
Healthcare Sector Finance Issues
Healthcare Reforms
International Collaboration
International Reaction
Domestic Company Activity
Foreign Generic Sector
Table: Timeline: Indian Manufacturers In Japan, 2005-2007
Multinational Sector Developments
Research And Development
Industry Forecast Sce
Overall Market Forecast
Table: Japanese Ethical Market - Leading Therapeutic Classes, FY05/06
Table: Japan's Drug Market Indicators
Key Growth Factors - Industry
Table: Japan's Healthcare Expenditure Indicators
Macroeconomic Forecast Scenario
Table: Japan - Macroeconomic Forecasts
Prescription Market Forecast
Table: Prescription Drug Market Indicators (US$mn unless otherwise
 stated)
OTC Market Forecast
Table: OTC Market Indicators (US$mn unless otherwise stated)
Generics Market Forecast
Table: Generics Market Trends
Patented Medicines Market Forecast
Table: Patented Medicines Market Indicators
Export/Import Forecasts
Table: Export/Import Trends (US$mn)
Other Healthcare Data And Forecasts
Table: Socio-Demographic Indicators
Key Risks To our Forecast Scenario
Competitive Landscape
Table: Japanese Ethical Market - Sales Value (FY2006)
Company Profiles
Leading Foreign Manufacturers
Pfizer
Sanofi-Aventis
Merck & Co (Banyu)
Novartis
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)
AstraZeneca
Indigenous Manufacturers
Takeda
Astellas
Eisai
Daiichi-Sankyo
Sawai Pharmaceutical
Our Forecast Modelling

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c91537

COPYRIGHT 2008 Business Wire
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning