Pharma Japan
July 8, 2013
Sawai Pharmaceutical President Mitsuo Sawai said on July 2 that the generic drug industry needs to boost its production to 73 billion tablets from the current 43 billion, in order to achieve the health ministry’s 60% generic share goal by the end of March 2018.
“This is not an easy task,” said the president during an informal press gathering in Osaka, adding that the company will still make efforts to meet the generic share (by volume) target of 60% , which was included in the ministry’s generic promotion roadmap released in April.
Currently, 57.1% of pharmaceutical products can be replaced by generics based on a calculation using data from a market price survey conducted in September 2011, according to Mr Sawai. Among these products, 39.9% have already been replaced by generics. By the end of March 2018, the ratio of products that can be replaced by generics is expected to be 63.3% due to the expansion of the off-patent drug market.
The company calculated that the generic industry has to produce 30 billion more tablets to meet the 60% goal, because pharmaceutical products overall will increase over the years.
“This is a huge number. The Central Social Insurance Medical Council says it’s easy to achieve the 60% goal, but it’s not at all,” Mr Sawai said.
Meanwhile, Mr Sawai said that the company will step up inspections at drug substance factories to ensure product quality, which is one of the goals in the ministry’s roadmap. For example, the company will increase the number of inspectors from 10 to 20. In FY2013, it plans to inspect 120 facilities by using both internal and external inspectors.
Additionally, the company will move up its plan to boost its production capacity at the Kanto factory to enable the production of 10 billion tablets annually by the end of FY2014.
Sawai Pharmaceutical President Mitsuo Sawai said on July 2 that the generic drug industry needs to boost its production to 73 billion tablets from the current 43 billion, in order to achieve the health ministry’s 60% generic share goal by the end of March 2018.
“This is not an easy task,” said the president during an informal press gathering in Osaka, adding that the company will still make efforts to meet the generic share (by volume) target of 60% , which was included in the ministry’s generic promotion roadmap released in April.
Currently, 57.1% of pharmaceutical products can be replaced by generics based on a calculation using data from a market price survey conducted in September 2011, according to Mr Sawai. Among these products, 39.9% have already been replaced by generics. By the end of March 2018, the ratio of products that can be replaced by generics is expected to be 63.3% due to the expansion of the off-patent drug market.
The company calculated that the generic industry has to produce 30 billion more tablets to meet the 60% goal, because pharmaceutical products overall will increase over the years.
“This is a huge number. The Central Social Insurance Medical Council says it’s easy to achieve the 60% goal, but it’s not at all,” Mr Sawai said.
Meanwhile, Mr Sawai said that the company will step up inspections at drug substance factories to ensure product quality, which is one of the goals in the ministry’s roadmap. For example, the company will increase the number of inspectors from 10 to 20. In FY2013, it plans to inspect 120 facilities by using both internal and external inspectors.
Additionally, the company will move up its plan to boost its production capacity at the Kanto factory to enable the production of 10 billion tablets annually by the end of FY2014.
