Assessing the R&D capability of the Japanese pharmaceutical industry

According to some observers, Japan's pharmaceutical industry 'emerged as a global competitor' in the 1980s. According to others, the same firms 'face severe obstacles' in the 1990s and may 'run out of time in their internationalization efforts.' To help clarify the competitive position of the Japanese industry, this article uses an original framework and set of estimates to codify the R&D capability of the nine major Japanese pharmaceutical companies ('the nine majors') and compare it with the R&D capability of their Western counterparts. On this basis the article concludes that the majors are not yet global competitors, although several could be by the end of the decade. The estimates help to quantify what has been described as a large gap between the R&D position of the Japanese companies and the position of the top Western pharmaceutical firms.