Biotechnology in Japan

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The Japanese Biotechnology Industry

According to a study by the Japan Bio Industry Association (JBA: 2008), there were 714 biotechnology companies in Japan in 2007. In addition, many large companies in the chemical, consumer goods, cosmetic and food industries in particular have their own biotechnology departments. 577 companies were listed by the JBA as biotech start-up companies. According to the JBA’s definition, these companies are no more than 20 years old and conform to the legal definitions of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Japan.

Business Sectors

A survey of Japanese biotechnology start-up companies by business sector found that the largest proportion is engaged in the pharmaceutical sector and biomedical research and development. In Japan, these sectors are a particular focus of public interest and are covered by most publications on biotechnology in Japan.

As well as the relatively high proportion of companies engaged in green biotechnology, companies in the industrial biotechnology sector are conspicuous by their low numbers. It should be noted, however, that the majority of industrial biotechnology companies are not recorded by the JBA as biotechnology start-up companies due to their size or their age.

Market Trends

In 2009, the market for biotechnological products in Japan shrank compared to the previous year by 4.1% to ¥ 2.41 trillion (approx. € 18.56 billion). This can be attributed solely to the 10.8% downturn in the market for genetically modified products to ¥ 1.51 trillion (approx. € 11.63 billion). Due to the economic crisis, imports of genetically modified rapeseed, soya beans, corn and cotton, for example, collapsed by around ¥ 300 trillion (€ 4.45 billion) from ¥ 876 trillion (€ 6.73 billion) in 2008. By contrast, all other biotechnological product groups and services showed positive growth in 2008.

The greatest growth was posted in the human vaccines sector in 2009. Here, the market grew by 61% from ¥ 85 billion (€ 654 million) to approx. ¥ 137 billion (€ 1.05 billion). A large percentage growth was also posted by the markets for therapeutic antibodies (44%) and DNA sequencers (28%).

Product Pipeline

A survey of Japanese biotechnology companies on products in clinical trials phases found that 75 products from 39 companies were at least in the first clinical phase at the start of 2009. At the time of the previous survey, covering the period between April and June 2007, there were only 56 products from 30 biotechnology companies. This represents an increase of more than 30% in around 18 months.

Because of the difficult financial situation of Japanese biotechnology companies, more and more products are being developed together with domestic or foreign partners. While in 2007 just 17 products were developed through collaboration, this had already reached 30 at the start of 2009.

With regard to the active ingredients to be found in the product pipelines of Japanese biotechnology companies, active ingredients that combat inflammation/autoimmune diseases (19) and cancer (17) together make up almost half of all active ingredients. This mostly involves the results of basic research that were developed further through a spin-off from a university or public research institute with a biotechnology company.

* This article is taken from “Biotechnology in Japan”, a study published in 2010 by the VBU (Association of German Biotechnology Companies) and DECHEMA.

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