Replies to post #58620 on Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

Re: Japanese pharma industry

>This seems to be a general trend in which large pharmaceutical companies partner with Japanese companies to market in Japan. Is this because of cultural, political, or regulatory reasons?<

Yes, yes, and yes.

>Is there an example of a large US/European drug company that markets its drugs in Japan without a Japanese partner?<

For most US and European Big Pharma, the Japanese “partner” is the BP’s own Japanese subsidiary. In some cases, e.g. Roche/Chugai, the Japanese subsidiary is majority-owned, but in most cases it is wholly-owned and hence not referred to as a partner.

>To the best of my knowledge there are no megacap Japanese drug companies (compared to US and European drug companies), please correct me if I am wrong.<

This is true—compared to their Western counterparts, Japanese pharma companies only recently started the consolidation process in a big way. We need to bear in mind that such mega-cap companies as PFE, GSK, and SNY are the products of multiple rounds of large-scale mergers. Regards, Dew