COLUMN

Drug makers’ downsizing moves continue unabated in Japan. In the past three months alone, it was revealed that voluntary redundancy programs were being planned or launched for Pfizer, MSD, and Sanofi, affecting a total of over 600 staffers mainly in…

As Japan gears up for its next drug pricing reform in April 2020, Shoji Kono, director of the National Federation…

Pharmaceutical sales per rep in Japan, a yardstick for “productivity” at drug makers, reached a record 172 million yen in FY2018, up 20 million yen from five years ago, as companies continue ramping up their job-shedding drive in a bid…

Riding on the back of an improved regulatory environment in China, major Japanese drug makers are moving to expand their businesses in the world’s second largest pharma market. Companies are pumping up their new drug pipelines, while forging solid sales…

Japan’s generic market is hitting a plateau soon. Incentive measures rolled out by the government since 2002 have driven its…

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 my home country of Australia, there is a famous candy called “Minties”. Minties has a long-running advertising campaign, presenting comical situations, with the caption, “It’s moments like these.” The phase has become part of the Aussie vernacular, meaning in…