Japanese pharma and economy need to stimulate innovation, says Pfizer chief

Patients worldwide would benefit greatly from a Japanese pharmaceuticalindustry that is stronger at home and more competitive overseas, Pfizer chief executive Henry McKinnell has told a health care symposium in Tokyo, Japan, organized by Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

Japan is missing an opportunity to improve both the health of its patients and its economy, he said. The research-based drug industry can contribute to both goals, as a vibrant industrial sector creating many new high-paying jobs and getting ill people back to work more quickly. The mapping of the human genome opens up new therapy targets, and breakthoughs from research-based firms are already redefining people's expectations of their elder years, said Dr McKinnell. However, he added, given the greater incentives for innovation, the most productive generator of these breakthrough agents is the drug industry in the USA and, more importantly, US patients generally get earlier access to new drugs.

Japan has a skilled workforce, a large home market and the national will to focus on large-scale, long-term goals, while its industry enjoys the rule of law and strong intellectual property protection, he said; however, what is missing is long-term incentives for innovation. Newly-introduced drugs come under government-imposed price controls and then reductions. Repetitive drug price cuts have reduced the size of the Japanese market to the level it was at seven years ago, he noted, adding that lower prices today come at the cost of better drugs and greater economic growth tomorrow.