Japan FTC's report on pharma criticised by several panel members

A number of members of the committee on improving the distribution of prescription medicines within Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare have criticized a recommendation on the joint purchasing of drugs by hospitals in a recent report compiled by Japan's Fair Trade Commission and reviewed at the committee's meeting earlier this month.

The report contains not only recommendations on joint purchasing but also on the promotion of generic drugs, based on a recent questionnaire survey and hearings with pharmaceutical producers, drug wholesalers, medical facilities and consumers (Marketletter October 23).

Aim is to lower drug prices