Interphex Japan, Asia's largest pharmaceutical industry event with 1,850 exhibitors and attracting over 75,000 industry professional from all over the globe, is being held at a time when the economy is recovering from the black swan events like earthquake, tsunami and the subsequent nuclear crisis which had jolted Japan. The event will give a booster dose to the pharmaceutical industry, which had also been partly impacted by the crisis in Japan.
Interphex Japan showcases the rapidly progressing scenario of the pharmaceutical industry of Japan. Alongside Japanese companies a large number of international companies will provide the global overview of this sector with innovations and research techniques that are already on or in the anvil.
This mega pharmaceutical, cosmetic and detergent manufacturing technology expo organized by Reed Exhibitions will be held at the Tokyo International Exhibition Center from Jun 29 to July 1 where one can explore the whole process of pharmaceutical production, from materials, equipment, technologies and total solutions.
The Tokyo International Exhibition Center, a premier event venue located in Tokyo is also known as 'Tokyo Big Sight'. Since its opening in 1996, the venue has hosted some of the most popular national and international events.
Interphex Japan event is held concurrently with the Pharma Pack, Pharma Sourcing, Pharma IT Solutions, Bio Expo Japan and Pharmaceutical Ingredients Japan.
At the venue, business meetings are held between professionals of pharmaceutical manufacturers and exhibitors from all over the world. The concurrently held "Technical Conference" having a large number of seminars is an ideal meeting place for enhancing knowledge on the latest trends in the pharmaceutical industry.
The visitor's profile include professionals related to the field of manufacturing technology, R & D, product quality control, factory control, purchasing / facilities, information technology, cosmetic manufacturers and detergent manufacturers.
Profile for exhibit includes analytical/testing, clinical research, sterilizing equipment, washing machines, filters, air conditioners, dust collection equipment, clean room equipment & supplies, wipers, process inspection / testing equipment zone, inspection devices, pharmaceutical ingredients, bulk drugs, laboratory measurement, microscopes, other research/laboratory equipment, solutions for pharmaceutical manufacturing and for clinical research.
Japan provides a huge market for pharmaceuticals as the second largest consumer of prescription drugs after the United States and is a massive importer of prescription drugs, relying on discoveries made elsewhere.
Japan , the world’s second largest economy and also the second highest spender in healthcare in the world. A rapidly ageing population has burdened the healthcare system both in terms of funding and facilities there.
The last decade has seen the Japanese pharmaceutical players ranking in the top list of global pharmaceutical manufacturers. And in a bid to perform more competitively on the world stage, some of the biggest Japanese companies have merged to form Astellas Pharma, Dainippon Sumitomo and Daiichi Sankyo.
The government has implemented a generic substitution system to increase the market share of generics to 30 per cent in volume terms by 2012. Pharmacists are also encouraged to substitute prescribed branded drugs for generic ones, a move that has angered physicians and the new government has hinted at changing.
Foreign entrants to the generic market, such as Israel’s Teva, which formed a joint-venture with Kowa Pharma, are planning a more aggressive strategy that will involve marketing around 200 generic drugs by 2015.
In June 2009, the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law was also revised and the rule in regards to the sale of Over the Counter (OTC) drugs was relaxed. The relaxed rule has resulted in increased competition in the sector with reports of supermarkets and convenience stores reducing prices by up to 20 percent.
Additionally, various industrial policies have been drawn up and implemented that include ‘Pharmaceutical Industry Vision’, ‘Biotechnology Strategy’ and ‘Intellectual Property Strategy’, but many issues, including drug pricing system reform and consolidation of the clinical trial system remain unresolved.
Giving importance to the IP scenario, the government is supportive in intellectual property. It has been laying more emphasis on increasing the number of patent attorneys specialized in the areas of life sciences and biotechnology. Major universities have liaison offices for technology transfers. Even the education ministry has been providing funds for intellectual property issues so as to support the university professors to file patents through foundations set up at the universities.
The government has introduced preferential measures and subsidies to revive the manufacturing of vaccines in Japan. Several large Japanese manufacturers, such as Takeda, have already taken advantage of the incentives to launch vaccine production. In 2010, Takeda received a government subsidy to expand the development, production and supply of pandemic, cell culture-based flu vaccines in Japan. There have also been some other significant developments during Q1 2011 and Q2 2011 in the biologic sector in Japan: Takeda and Dainippon Sumitomo entered into an agreement to manufacture an antibiotic; and Fujifilm acquired two biopharmaceutical units of Merck & Co., Diosynth RTP and MSD Biologics.
Japan is also a critical player in the global medical device market, ranking just behind the United States and European Union markets in terms of market size at just under $25 billion, about half of the total Asia Pacific (APAC) medical devices market, which is pinned at $55 billion, according to a study. In addition, several major medical device firms have established beach heads in the Land of the Rising
Since World War II, the emergent pharmaceutical industry in Japan has transformed and retransformed itself in response to four factors that have shaped the business environment. Broadly defined, these factors are government policy, business capacity, national economic development, and societal trends that today are driving the Japanese pharmaceutical industry at home and in external markets.
For life sciences companies globally, the massive size of the Japanese market is a considerable attraction. This gives Japan a distinct advantage over other countries in the region such as Australia, Korea and Singapore, where the industry is limited by their comparatively smaller domestic markets.
The Japanese biotechnology industry too has been making good progress in recent years. Much of the impetus has come from the Japanese government which has been providing considerable support to foster this industry.
There are about 400 biotechnology companies in Japan. But the core biotech companies are about 100 that are doing very well in the stock market. The big pharmaceutical companies own these companies which have a diversified product range. Besides the leading companies, there are about 10–15 spin-off companies from the universities. To remain stable, these companies have opted for the services model.
For most of the leading Japanese pharma players, overseas business comprises 45 to 60 per cent of their revenue. The mergers, acquisitions and globalization strategies are indicative of a corporate restructuring which has fundamentally changed the Japanese industry. Many see the future for the Japanese companies as that based on innovative R&D and in export markets. In a ranking of pharmaceutical companies that developed the top 100 products in terms of global sales, Japanese-based firms today are in the third position after those of the US and the UK.