Biopharma industry is assuming greater prominence in Japan in the recent years. Much of the impetus has come from the Japanese government which has been providing considerable support to foster biotechnology industry as a whole.
Though Japan is the world's second largest economy and also the second highest spender in healthcare in the world, a rapidly aging population has burdened the healthcare system both in terms of funding and facilities there. While the Japanese government has ensured that all citizens and workers should have health insurance, Japan's healthcare expenditures has been increasing to keep up with the aging population.
Concerned over the increasing expenses,the Japanese government had issued a strategic plan in 2002 to focus research and commercial efforts based on emerging bio-based technologies. The goal was to stimulate the economy while addressing two pressing concerns: an aging population and a depletion of natural resources. The government is also increasing thrust on the generics market as it bids to keep medical expenses under control.
The plan had given thrust on four areas of research capitalizing on Japan’s strengths in genomics research and technological proficiencies. These were pharmaceuticals , medical supplies and equipment, microbial and bioprocess engineering and functional foods
The Japanese government has been investing in developing the domestic ‘bio-infrastructure’ through funding bio-industrial cluster projects and setting up support programmes for bio-ventures and universities to enhance Japan’s biopharma industry.
Overall the Japanese Govt is also keen to boost biotech tie-ups with other nations. Scientific links between the UK and Japan have been boosted by the announcement of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council's ( BBSRC ) latest Japan Partnering Awards. The awards, made to four research groups, provide funding for BBSRC-supported researchers to build and foster long-term relationships with Japanese partners.
For the second year running, the awards scheme has been run jointly with Japan Science and Technology Agency ( JST ) to support scientists in both countries in the field of systems biology.
The Japan Partnering Awards provides support from BBSRC to UK researchers and JST to Japanese researchers to fund travel between the two countries, networking opportunities and collaborative activities, such as workshops or early career research exchanges. The awards provide support for up to four years and will assist the groups to jointly produce high impact publications, new grant applications and reciprocal access to facilities.
According to Professor Douglas Kell, BBSRC Chief Executive, "Modern bioscience demands international collaboration. By working together across international borders we can generate faster progress and higher quality science than we can alone. This scheme, and the close relationship between BBSRC and the JST, allows us to foster and build links between UK and Japanese researchers."
Japan Partnering Awards aim to enable UK and Japanese scientists to forge long-term partnerships. The awards foster the formation of partnership links between UK and overseas laboratories and promote access to facilities and the exchange of scientists, especially early in their career.
Japanese pharmaceutical manufacturers are also eager to catch up with competitors from the US and Europe and are seeking to do so through investment and co-operation with bio-ventures and universities.
Biopharmaceuticals is the mainstay of the Japanese biotech market, accounting for 40 per cent of the total market. Recombinant protein drugs such as erythropoietin and interferon have the highest market share in the biopharmaceuticals segment.
Although most of these biopharmaceuticals are produced in technical collaboration with European and American companies, Japanese biotech companies are now investing heavily in research to bring out their own products and are eying various emerging areas. Regenerative medicine, which promises to grow organs and tissues to eliminate the problem of rejection that occurs with organ transplants, holds much interest for Japanese companies. The other potential areas of growth are expected to be protein drugs and glycobiology.
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. They are utilizing a part of their resources for the product development as a long-term goal.
The industry's rapid development is a visible result of the close cooperation between the Japanese public and private sectors and academia. In 2007, the total market size of the Japanese biotechnology industry was $19.5 billion (Rs 90,247 crore), a 10.8 per cent increase over 2006.
Currently, medical biotechnology is the leading sub-sector in Japan. Medical biotechnology products account for over 30 per cent of the Japanese biotechnology market. Within medical biotechnology, therapeutic antibodies have the highest growth potential. Japanese pharmaceutical companies are eagerly seeking new drug candidates and pipelines, identified or developed by overseas biotech companies, which they can tap into in order to develop new drugs.
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 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.
Giving importance to the IP scenario, the government is very 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 rapidly emerging biotechnology industry is resulting in novel biomedical and pharmaceutical products and processes that are relieving human suffering, improving health, and increasing the quality of life for citizens in Japan.