How A U.S./Japan Partnership Provides Pharma Potential

Over the past decade, U.S. pharmaceutical companies have expressed a steadily rising interest in partnering with pharma companies headquartered in Japan, now the second-largest pharmaceutical market in the world. That’s because virtually all of the major pharma companies are watching their revenues decrease because of weak pipelines, patent expiries, and the rise of generics. Japanese companies, which are experiencing these forces more severely than most, are now also more actively seeking alliances with partners in foreign countries.

In a January 2012 interview with The National Bureau of Asian Research, B.T. Slingby, who is the director of global partner solutions at Eisai, noted an “interesting trend” in Japan pharma at this time: proactive globalization, in which Japanese companies are actively examining how they can open up and expand into other markets. He added, “To move forward means ... new business models — organic growth. New business models have to be integrated, they have to be innovative, they have to look at volume instead of profit margin, they have to address the unique needs of the healthcare system as a whole, and they have to look at how patients in each country access healthcare and medicines.” Thus a golden opportunity seems to be apparent for U.S. pharma companies that are interested in partnerships.