Japanese pharma expected to grow by 17%

According to research released at CPhI Japan, domestic companies are forecasting a 17% growth in the Japanese pharmaceutical economy.

Over 90 domestic and international companies that attended the event were surveyed to provide a holistic view of the country’s best growth opportunities. In a sector-by-sector analysis, 56% of companies believed that biologics and biosimilars offered the fastest growth for 2017. The most popular biopharmaceutical product classes under development were revealed to be anticancer (72%) and enhanced immune class drugs (48%).

“The ever rising demand for anticancer drugs and high margins combined with Japan’s robust reimbursement system for patented drugs make it an attractive market for companies to invest in and develop new drugs,” explained Rutger Oudejans, brand director at CPhI for Asia and North America.

Japan represents the third largest pharma industry with the majority of its business in its domestic market. However, CPhI Japan’s research has demonstrated that, out of those surveyed, more than two thirds of companies want to target international markets over the rest of the year. Mostly, these companies are targeting the US, with China and Korea as the next in line and only a few looking towards Europe.

The complete report is available from CPhI Pharma Insights.