REGULATORY
    Chuikyo Kicks Off Debate on FY2023 Off-Year Drug Price Revision
    October 6, 2022
    An all-important Japanese reimbursement policy panel on October 5 launched its discussions towards the next “off-year” drug price revision scheduled for April 2023. Members representing healthcare providers called for carefully defining product coverage, while payers…

    LATEST

    Comirnaty Bags Special Approval in Japan for Kids Aged 6 Months to 4 Years
    October 6, 2022
    Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty gained the regulatory nod in Japan on October 5 for use in children between the ages of six months and four years. This is the first COVID-19 jab to be approved in the country for children…
    Pfizer’s BA.4/5-Adapted Comirnaty Grabs Special Approval in Japan
    October 6, 2022
    The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) on October 5 granted a special approval to Pfizer’s bivalent COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty RTU tailored to the BA.4/BA.5 Omicron subvariants.The green light was given as a partial modification to the previous approval…
    LDP Health Panel Chief Vows All-Round Support for Japan Drug Makers
    October 6, 2022
    Japan will prop up its pharmaceutical industry by bolstering support for domestic drug makers to bring their competitiveness up to a level in line with global pharmaceutical giants, Hiroaki Tabata, who became the new health…

    COMMENTARY

    Pharma Industry Faces Hurdles in Getting Medical Circle to Accept Softer Drug Price Cut Plan
    By Kazuhiro Chiboshi

    Interest is growing in discussions by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s (MHLW) new expert panel on comprehensive pharmaceutical measures. At its meeting on September 22, major trade groups made their cases to push for a re-think of the…

    COLUMN

    The Evolving US Managed Care Environment and Implications of US Market Attractiveness for Japanese Manufacturers
    By Eric Persoff

    Healthcare in the US is a highly political topic, with one end of the political spectrum arguing for broader government-sponsored access and the other advocating for more of a free-market approach. While the US market has typically been the primary…

    FY2022 Drug Maker Employment Survey

    Female Manager Ratio at Japan Drug Makers Finally Hits 10%, Foreign Peers Near 25%: Jiho Poll
    By Reiji Anasako

    The average ratio of females in managerial posts at Japanese drug makers has finally reached a double-digit number, at 10.0%, a Jiho survey found. However, this is still well below a near-25% ratio logged by foreign players operating in the…

    Jiho Survey: FY2022 Drug Price Revision

    Authorized Generics Likely Speeding Up G1/G2 Price Cuts for Off-Patent Brands: Jiho Tally

    Authorized generic (AG) strategies taken by innovative drug makers might help soften the impact of generic competition in their businesses but such tactics might also accelerate the application of “G1”/“G2” price cuts for their off-patent brand-name medicines, a Jiho tally…

    FY2022 Drug Pricing Reform

    MHLW Unveils New List Prices for FY2022 Revision, 18 Off-Patent APIs Face Early “G1” Cuts

    Japan’s health ministry announced new NHI prices to be applied in April under the FY2022 drug price revision in the official gazette on March 4, with the earlier application of so-called “G1” price cuts to be implemented for the first…

    TRENDS

    15 APIs with 10 Billion Yen-Plus Peak Sales Outlooks Listed in 2021: Jiho Tally

    A total of 15 new drugs (APIs) joined the NHI price list in 2021 with peak sales forecasts topping at 10 billion yen, many of them in the area of orphan diseases and with few mega launches, according to a…

    NEWS CATEGORY

    REGULATORY

    BUSINESS

    ORGANIZATION

    ACADEMIA