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The Business Opportunity

TopThe Business Opportunity

A Huge Business Opportunity Exists: Japan’s ageing and materially rich society means that the healthcare market is huge and continuously growing: the world’s 2nd largest pharmaceutical and medical devices markets with total sales of £63 billion and £16 billion respectively in 2011. Government health expenditure is increasing year on year and in 2011 reached a record high of £249 billion. Currently around 24% of Japan’s population is over 65 years old (i.e. 30 million+ people), and this is expected to continue to rise. This means a current and predicted increase in the number of chronic and long-term diseases needing treatment. Preventive healthcare demand is also increasing.

Removal of Barriers: Recent Japanese Government’s Growth Strategies have increased the opportunities for UK companies within this expanding market. Specifically, the development of new drugs and medical devices has been prioritized, and drug approval times have been reduced.

Why Cancer?: Cancer has been the leading cause of death in Japan since the mid-1980s. The Japanese government takes this very seriously and brought in the Cancer Control Act in 2007 to improve the situation. A current total of £2.4 billion has been spent by the Japanese government on cancer control and, paired with internal research and development programmes, Japanese companies are increasingly looking to import innovative therapies, technologies and products from across the globe. Taking anti-cancer drugs as an example, the market is anticipated to reach £7,076 million in 2021, up 38% from the current £5,127 million. Naturally, both the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries regard cancer as a top business opportunity, and place cancer as one of their core therapeutic areas with imperative high demands for innovative technology licensing, product imports and investment.