Rise or demise of Japan’s generics by P Reed Maurer

Generics in Japan are a work in progress. Presently they account for about 28% of pharmaceutical volume, and just over 10% of value, notes P Reed Maurer, long-time Japanese pharma industry watcher and president of International Alliances Limited (IAL), in an exclusive article for The Pharma Letter.

This market penetration represents a steady increase from the past, but not the boom some forecasted, nor the achievement expected by the Ministry of Health Labor and Welfare (MHLW) through incentives to both prescribe and dispense generics. And, says Mr Maurer, obviously far below generic penetration of the US market.

Once again the so called Galapagos factor seems to be at work in Japan. This term is used to describe the unique evolution of products and systems quite different from those in the rest of the world. Simply forecasting that a generic market in Japan will mimic the experience elsewhere is naive, and does not recognize the different dynamics at work in the Japanese healthcare system. Let’s look at a few of the obvious examples.