7 March 2017 - Some see drug investment potentially shifting outside Japan.

President Donald Trump has pledged to reverse what he describes as "astronomical" drug prices in the U.S. Thousands of miles away, Japan, long a profit sanctuary for multinational pharmaceutical companies, is taking a similar tack.

About $93 billion is spent annually on medications in Japan, and the government plays a key role on prices because it covers about 40% of the country’s health spending via its national insurance scheme. In December, officials announced plans to review drug prices more frequently: annually for all therapies and quarterly for the newest and most expensive ones that are used widely.

Over recent months, the price of Opdivo, a blockbuster cancer drug from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Japan’s Ono Pharmaceutical Co., was halved in the Asian country following a 32% cut in April for Gilead Sciences Inc.’s hepatitis cure Sovaldi.

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