President's Message

The three-year-long COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on our social life, with the global spread of the disease severely limiting the flow of traffic and severely affecting the manufacture and transportation of goods, but thanks to the efforts of many medical professionals and the COVID-19 vaccine and medicines, life before the COVID-19 pandemic has finally returned. During this period, the use of various digital tools has enabled us to have new work styles and lifestyles, such as remote work, that were previously unthinkable. In this respect, the COVID-19 pandemic seems to have changed the social norm.

On the other hand, what we have learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is that medicines and vaccines are essential in the fight against pandemics, and from the perspective of national security, measures must be taken to address this issue from normal times. In addition to pandemic countermeasures, there are many diseases for which there is still no cure, and pharmaceutical companies must work to create new medicines for these diseases. The JPMA will also provide maximum cooperation in the framework of the "Drug Discovery Venture Ecosystem Enhancement Project," which was launched last year to strengthen and accelerate drug discovery innovation, which is becoming increasingly important. The JPMA would like to play a role not only in supporting academia and start-ups, but also in successfully nurturing the seeds generated from these activities to lead to the creation of new drugs originating in Japan. We believe that if each player establishes industry-academia-government collaboration from a new perspective with a strong will under the strong support of the government, drug discovery in Japan will accelerate and innovation will flourish.

In order for innovation to be continuously generated, it is also important to have a system in which innovation is properly evaluated. This is important not only to encourage innovation creation in our own country, but also to attract innovation from other countries. However, the problem of so-called "drug lag/drug loss," in which new drugs approved in other industrialized countries don’t easily reach Japanese patients, is becoming more and more apparent. To address these issues, it is necessary to increase the attractiveness of the Japanese pharmaceutical market and attract investment and technology. The JPMA will exchange opinions with stakeholders and make recommendations on policies that should be implemented in order to create a system where the value of pharmaceutical products is fairly evaluated.

We aim to become a "country where innovation thrives" where motivated companies take on the challenge of unmet medical needs, innovation is continuously generated, and the value of pharmaceutical products is fairly evaluated.

TOP