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| Three Key Points towards the Future |
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Point 1
Can an Environment that Fosters Biotech Ventures Companies Be Established? |
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Needless to say, biotech venture companies will be the engine that will drive the growth of the biotech industry in the future. The management of a biotech venture, however, involves great risks. An outlay of massive amounts of R&D funds must be made before a new drug or medical technology is officially approved in Japan by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. In other words, a company can begin to make profits only after approval is granted. Furthermore, there are risks associated with the development of biotechnology, and there are many instances where there is no choice but to discontinue development efforts in midstream. In such cases, the massive funds already injected into R&D go to waste.
An ideal environment would be as follows. Companies are assessed based on a forecast of their performance in five to ten year time on the basis of their technological capabilities and the business potential of their products and services. Movement towards the listing of the stocks of these venture companies then becomes brisk, resulting in a smooth inflow of development funds to companies from investors. However, when compared to countries such as the United States, there are not that many biotech venture companies in Japan that are listed on the stock exchange. It is therefore that much more difficult to assess the corporate value of a venture firm, and this is acting as an obstacle to the listing of new venture companies. An infrastructure that fosters venture firms is recently in the process of being established, such as through the public offering of stocks made possible through the Tokyo Stock Exchange's "Mothers" market and the Osaka Securities Exchange's "Nippon New Market (Hercules)." However, there is a need to further accelerate such trends. |
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Point 2
Will Alliances and Joint Research with American and European Companies Advance? |
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The biotech boom erupted in Japan in 1980, but its history is short as compared with the United States and Europe where there is a history of research and development that goes back nearly 50 years. It seems undeniable that Japan was off to a late start, especially in basic research. Alliances and joint research with U.S. and European companies are essential in order for Japanese companies to make a dramatic leap forward in the field of biotechnology. A case for reference is that of Chugai.
Chugai was a one of the pioneers of Japan's domestic biotech pharmaceutical products. In the early 1990s it launched Epogin (recombinant erythropoietin) and Neutrogin (recombinant granulocyte colony-stimulating factor). |
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Today, it is currently focusing its managerial resources on antibody drugs. An application for MRA, a humanized anti-IL-6 receptor monoclonal antibody has already been filed for approval, and its additional indication for rheumatoid arthritis is in the latter phases of clinical trials. If approved, it will become Japan's first domestically produced antibody drug. There are increased expectations for this medication as a new drug of a large scale.
Meanwhile, Chugai became a subsidiary of Swiss-based F. Hoffmann-La Roche in 2002. This move is evaluated among those in the industry as being a major benefit towards the development of antibody drugs. This is because Roche has, as a subsidiary, Genentech, Inc., an American company that is a global leader in antibody drugs. There are many synergistic effects that are anticipated. |
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Point 3
How Accepting Will Japanese People Become of Genetic Engineering Technology? |
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A major key for the development of the biotechnology industry, especially in relation to genetic engineering, is acceptance by citizens. Genetic engineering is a relatively new technology as compared with tissue culture, etc. People are generally not very familiar with it, and there are quite a lot of people who feel an undefined sense of unease towards genetic engineering.
In Japan, Mitsui Chemicals, Inc., Kirin Brewery and Kagome Co., Ltd. were among those who had decided to enter the field of genetic engineering. However, they decided to retreat from this field once the "allergic" reactions that consumers held towards genetic engineering surfaced. It is essential that correct information regarding biotechnology is disseminated and public acceptance promoted in order to make the practical application of biotech possible and advance the industrialization of this sector. |
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