Report 1: Growth strategies in Japan’s pharma market, by P Reed Maurer

P Reed Maurer, long-time Japanese pharma industry watcher and president of International Alliances Limited (IAL), has written a series of exclusive articles for The Pharma Letter on growth strategies in Japan’s pharmaceutical market.

The first of these – on mergers and acquisitions, appears today, with the other four, covering: Co-promotion and Co-marketing; People, Products and Research and Development, to be published during the remainder of this week.

Mergers and acquisitions

Growth in any pharma market is often accelerated through timely mergers and acquisitions that give surviving entities critical mass. That is, a competitive advantage in drug development and commercialization. In Japan the only investment barrier for Western pharma companies since 1975 is their inability to make attractive acquisitions.