16 October 2016 - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has ordered his ministers to study specific measures to curb increases in medical expenditures as an effort to restore Japan’s fiscal health.

“In order to achieve the fiscal rehabilitation goal for fiscal 2020, we have to steadily promote expenditure reforms,” Abe said at a meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, referring to the goal of turning the primary balance into a surplus.

The proposal came as the government is considering slashing the price of Opdivo, which is priced at around 730,000 yen for 100 milligrams, compared with some 300,000 yen in the United States and about 150,000 yen in Britain.

Opdivo, initially marketed in Japan in 2014 as a drug to treat a certain type of skin cancer, has been sold at a high price as there was a limited number of patients.

But the medicine later drew robust demand after it was recognized to treat lung cancer, sharply lifting the nation’s medical expenditures.

As Japan revises drug prices once in two years, the next revision is slated to take place in fiscal 2018. But the health ministry is considering cutting the price of Opdivo by 25% for fiscal 2017 as an exceptional measure.

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