The Japanese pharmaceutical industry : its evolution and current challenges / Maki Umemura.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Umemura, Maki.

Series:

Routledge studies in the growth economies of Asia ; 101.

Routledge studies in the growth economies of Asia ; 101

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Pharmaceutical industry--Japan--History.

Pharmaceutical industry.

History.

Japan.

Physical Description:

xvii, 186 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2011.

Summary:

This book explores why Japan, despite being a world leader in many high technology industries such as automobiles and consumer electronics, is only a minor player in the global pharmaceutical industry. Japan provides a huge market for pharmaceuticals as the second largest consumer of prescription drugs after the United States, and is a massive importer of prescription drugs, relying on discoveries made elsewhere. This book charts the development of the industry, from the devastation resulting from the Second World War to its performance in the present day.

Focusing in particular on antibiotics and anticancer drugs, the book analyses factors that have prevented Japan from leading the rapid advances in science and technology that have occurred globally over recent decades. Looking at the pharmaceutical industry, the book argues that the Japanese government's research and development policies were not sufficiently incentivizing. It also shows how the nature of capitalism in Japan - which featured close relations between government and industry as well as between and within firms - was appropriate for nurturing industrial development in the immediate: postwar decades, but became much less effective in later years. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Introduction: Why didn't Japan become a global leader in pharmaceuticals? 1

2 A historical overview of Japan's pharmaceutical industry 10

3 Developing a modern industry: The antibiotics sector 32

4 What went wrong? The anticancer drug sector 68

5 Conclusion: Reconsidering Japan's business in pharmaceuticals 99.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780415587662

0415587662

9780203831281

0203831284

OCLC:

641535666