The delayed approval and price setting of Novartis Pharma’s Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec), a gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) listed in May, has raised questions about how the sakigake designation system should be operated. Despite being designated for the…
COMMENTARY
Drug Rep Number Might Have Logged 5,000-Plus Decrease in 1 Year: Jiho Tally
The number of drug reps in Japan appears to be rapidly declining, according to a Jiho tally, which, combined with other industry data, signals that the total pharma sales force might have posted a decrease of more than 5,000 over…
To read the full story
COMMENTARY
- Diabetes Market Regaining Momentum with New Launches; First Oral GLP-1 a Game Changer?
July 13, 2020
- Will Zolgensma Delay Spur Revision of Sakigake Designation System?
June 11, 2020
- Establish Development Regime to Always Be Prepared for New Infectious Disease, Global Health Confab Urges amid COVID-19
May 7, 2020
- Blurred Outlook for Off-Year Drug Re-Pricing, Will Japan Go Ahead with April 2021 Plan?
April 27, 2020
- Lenvima Heading into Megablockbuster Territory, Will Merck Tie-Up Help It Top Combined Aricept/Pariet Sales?
March 12, 2020
When Jiho surveyed drug makers on the non-sales criteria they use to evaluate reps’ performance, it received a variety of…
Nearly a year after the introduction of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s (MHLW) drug promotion guidelines in April…
Advancements in modified oligonucleotide technologies has been the key driver behind a spate of approvals in the oligonucleotide therapeutics space…
Japan’s key reimbursement policy panel on December 20 approved an outline of its FY2020 drug pricing reform next April, with…
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) on November 27 added to the NHI price list Japan’s first biosimilars of Avastin (bevacizumab), Nesp (darbepoetin alfa), and Forteo (teriparatide). The NHI prices of first biosimilars are set at 70% of…
A total of 51 new drugs joined the NHI price list in 2019, which are expected to generate combined peak sales of 373 billion yen, according to Jiho’s tally of data submitted to a key reimbursement policy panel. The relatively…
Some seven years in the making, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) finally rolled out a cost-effectiveness assessment…
Japan will go ahead with the introduction of a cost-effectiveness assessment (CEA) scheme for drugs and medical devices in April…
In a change striking to the very core of the traditional Japanese salaryman, “We are seeing the coronavirus ushering in a new way of working… and I think it’s about time,” says Ivan Tselichtchev, Professor of Economics at the Niigata…