Generics 16.8% of Japan's Rx market

For 2004, generic drugs made up16.8% of Japan's prescription pharmaceutical market by volume, compared with around 50% in the USA and Europe, according to a recent survey from the Japan Generic Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association.

However, while this sector is still small and has small margins, it is attracting many players which are expecting growth, given the encouragement from Japan's government, which is eager to contain medical cost increases, reports the Asahi Shimbun newspaper. Since April of this year, Japanese prescription forms contain a generic drug option that doctors can sign to allow their dispensing by pharmacists (Marketletters passim).

The prices of generics in Japan are 30%-80% lower than branded medicines. However, the newspaper quotes industy sources, saying: the cost of sales cannot be significantly reduced because medical institutions require the same level of information as they do for patented drugs.