Biotechnology | Print |

JETRO is pleased to continue it's support of the biotechnology industry through participation at BIO 2006 from April 9-12, where over 55 exhibitors from Japan will come to showcase their technologies and meet with potential partners. 

Past JETRO Biotechnology-related events include:


The market for the overall biotechnology industry in 2002 expanded by 7.5 percent from 2001 to ¥1,433 billion. Of the total, the biomedical market accounted for ¥818.7 billion, 7.3 percent larger than the previous year. This biomedical market breaks down into biotech pharmaceuticals worth ¥539.24 billion, and biomedical treatment and drugs-related products and services worth ¥279.45 billion. The market has been growing for the past four years (1998 to 2002) at an average annual rate of 6.7 percent. Main products of biotech pharmaceuticals are those produced by utilizing transgenic technology, cell fusion technology and cell culture technology.

Technologies in genome-based drug development, cell therapy and regenerative medicine are now in the basic research-and-development stage at major pharmaceutical companies, universities and public research institutions, with very few of them being produced on a commercial basis. Of the biotech pharmaceuticals produced in 2002, the highest proceeds of ¥120 billion came from erythropoietin, followed by monoclonal antibody in-vitro diagnostic agents (¥65 billion) and human growth hormone (¥60 billion). Showing particularly strong growth are antibody drugs, with sales growing from ¥900 million in 2001 to ¥13 billion in 2002.

Meanwhile, the actual businesses of the biomedical support market are gradually being developed into venture businesses. In the research support fields such as equipment and reagents, analysis systems like the DNA sequencer, bioinformatics, and various consigned services, in addition to the conventional liquid chromatography, have formed stable markets.

Growth Opportunities

Genome-Based Drug Development
Facing intensifying competition for new drug development, many domestic pharmaceutical companies are forming alliances and tie-ups with foreign bio venture firms to make their development efforts more efficient and also spread their cost burdens and risks, while stepping up their own research and development setup. This is because in today’s new drug development it is becoming even more necessary to obtain technologies and information for such development by new approaches different from conventional development methods, and it is becoming more difficult to cope only with one company’s technologies and researchers.

Cell Therapy
Of the major companies involved in this field, Kirin Brewery Co. introduced technologies from Dendreon Corp., and Takara Bio Inc. from Nexell Therapeutics, both of the United States, to develop cell therapy equipment. Successful venture firms in this field include Lymphotec Inc. and Medinet Co.

Regenerative Medicine
Of the large- and medium-size companies, Terumo Corp. (in a tie-up with Diacrin, Inc. of the U.S.) and Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co. (research being conducted on the technology of mesenchymal stem cell utilization with Keio University’s School of Medicine) are active in the market.