Japan Health & Medical Strategy
On March 27, 2020, the Government of Japan (GOJ) approved the second phase of its five-year health and medical strategy (new strategy), which will be implemented from JFY2020 (April 1, 2020). The five-year health and medical strategy was introduced in July 2014 as a part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic revitalization and growth strategy, introduced in June 2013, which called for the promotion of domestic pharmaceutical and medical device industries. The health and medical strategy was formulated to promote research and development (R&D) in the medical field and the creation of new industries that extend “Healthy Life Expectancy,” which is defined as the period in which a person can enjoy life without any limitations in their day-to-day activities due to health-related problems. Although the strategy was designed for the purpose of advancing healthcare and industry development in Japan, it gives US companies useful insight into potential opportunities in the Japanese market.
In Japan, the average life expectancy has been increasing year by year, reaching one of the world’s highest levels for both men and women. The aging rate (the percentage of people aged 65 and over) exceeded 14% in 1994, and 21% in 2007, and reached 28.1% in 2018. As the total population declines, the aging rate is expected to continue rising. The population over the age of 100 is expected to exceed 300,000 in 2040, and half of the children born in 2007 are estimated to live longer than 107 years old. The healthy life expectancy has also been increasing; however, there is about a decade gap between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy.
Given this significant gap, the new strategy identified specific therapeutic areas that impact healthy life expectancy and established six priority areas for further R&D. The specific therapeutic areas were identified based on the current and future disease fields. They are: cancer; lifestyle-related diseases (cardiology, diabetes, etc.); psychiatric and neurological disorders; geriatrics and dementia; infectious diseases, including drug resistance (AMR); etc. The R&D priority projects include pharmaceuticals; medical equipment; regenerative, cell, and gene therapies; genomes and data platforms; and basic disease research. Each project is expected to seed developments with priority themes. For example, the medical equipment project included themes such as utilizing AI and IoT technology, robotics technology, etc. to develop medical devices and systems for advanced diagnosis (including medical apps) and treatments.
The new strategy also emphasized the importance of promoting healthcare services provided by private companies (non-public insurance services). The healthcare service market is expected to expand to Yen 33 trillion (US$ 300 billion) in 2025 from Yen 25 trillion (US$ 227 billion) in 2016 due to increased demands for prevention, health management, life support services, and advances in healthcare services utilizing new technologies such as digital health and genomic analysis.
U.S. companies that offer innovative solutions in the therapeutic and priority R&D areas identified in the strategy may find new opportunities in the Japanese market, either directly or in partnership with Japanese companies already engaged in one of the R&D projects. Also, US companies that offer unique healthcare service solutions that can promote healthy life expectancy and help reduce medical costs may also find new opportunities.
For more information, please contact office.tokyo@trade.gov, and refer to the Medical Device sector.