Many issues still facing development of Japanese pharmaceutical industry

Despite the increasing number of Japan-originated innovative drugs, there are a lot of problems to be resolved in the country's regulatory system, government financing, quality of clinical trials and "drug-lag" access, the Office of Pharmaceutical Industry Research, a think-tank of the Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, pointed out in its recent report entitled, The Future in Japanese Pharmaceutical Industry: Mission and Challenges toward 2015.

In the report, the OPIR envisions the Japanese pharmaceutical industry in 2015 as follows:

- creating world-class innovative drugs;