Foreign drugmakers close labs in Japan

Sunday 27th July, 05:40 AM JST

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10 Comments

some14some at 07:05 AM JST - 27th July

surprised they were still operating in Japan. However, never too late.
LIBERTAS at 07:55 AM JST - 27th July

The foreign labs pioneer the new drugs, sell the license to the Japanese company to make, market and distribute the end product in Japan. No foreign labs mean no new drugs. The "Seyaku" groups of Japan are stuck in the "Genki-Drink" market with no original drugs to sell. Next time you get a prescription filled, look for the overseas company logo on the back of the bubble pack, with the Japanese kana for the foreign name.
DeepAir65 at 11:39 AM JST - 27th July

Calling the closures of foreign drug research facilities ‘‘a matter of concern,’’ Yagi and other Japanese pharmaceutical industry officials put together a report calling for Japan to become a more attractive place for investment.

I suspect too little too late
PepinGalarga at 02:06 PM JST - 27th July

With a 95% piracy rate for pharmaceuticals, the only thing China needed to lure R&D was protection of IP. In terms of plant and equipment, labs in China are still a few decades back, so they need to develop captive R&D initiatives from foreign companies in order to develop their native workforce to leading edge global standards and best practices.

I have met with the leaders at Zhanjiang Hi-Tech Park in Shanghai and they definitely got their sh!t together over there. There are also two other research centers in Beijing (Zhongguancun Life Science Park) and in Guangzhou which I have visited. To develop a new drug in the US costs several billion dollars, and lowering these costs is a priority for drugmakers.

Nothwithstanding, I don't see basic research moving to China for the decades to come.
Youdontknow at 03:11 PM JST - 27th July

Japan needs to lower costs of land space so foreign companies can actually afford to be here. Japan is slowly becoming a ghost town.
rajakumar at 03:16 PM JST - 27th July

Not good news for japan drug industry jobs. Japan must make more things attractive, to keep foreign drugmakers in japan.
pascalazadian at 03:49 PM JST - 27th July

Japan has to make things globally more attractive for foreigners...
GW at 05:00 PM JST - 27th July

well one thing that has been on my mind, if Jpn sorta implodes & becomes like a 3rd world country then with my investments it may work out I can retire here instead of looking at alternatives outside due to the insane costs
motytrah at 11:46 PM JST - 27th July

More and more drugs are now made with raw components sourced in China. Which is why we have started seeing drug contamination issues in the last few years. Some of which have resulted in death and serious injury.

China can attract companies with money and IP agreements. I don't think Japan is in the position to do either.
wanderlust at 11:00 AM JST - 28th July

What's the fuss?

The Japanese companies still have their own research laboratories around Japan. The foreign companies stop wasting money.

Nothing new came out of these foreign research labs. All the foreign companies' research is generally based in their home countries, right through to drug development and formulation. With ICH, fewer localisation or bridging studies are required. Japan still gets the new drugs from overseas, once MHLW approves them.

These global research "triangle" programmes, typically US/ Europe/ Japan, have been notable for their lack of success, though a few executives made a lot of "air miles" out of them, "co-ordinating" them.

Good that the industry has finally woken up.