6 | MANE LIFE SCIENCES | NOVEMBER 2019
However, China dominated the list of small and medium-sized businesses, suggesting that Japan might have to watch its back in the next few years:
1 Lee’s Pharmaceutical Holdings Ltd - Hong Kong
2 Takara Holdings Inc - Japan
3 Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co Ltd - Mainland China
4 BeiGene Co Ltd - Mainland China
5 Nitto Denko Corp - Japan
6 Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd - India
7 Betta Pharma Inc - Mainland China
8 CanSino Biologics Inc - Mainland China
9 JCR Pharmaceuticals Co Ltd - Japan
10 Genexine Co Ltd - South Korea
Again, all these companies were scored on three stages: early-stage development, drug development and maturity. Many have yet to move beyond early-stage development - but all the top SMEs score particularly high on early-stage partnering, suggesting that it’s a key to success.
Innovation outlook
Despite the pressure on healthcare spending in Mainland China, innovation is likely to grow - particularly in the field of cancer treatment, which is getting a lot of investment.
Japan is facing the challenges of price containment - other countries have that dubious pleasure to come. Japanese market pressures can be expected to affect SMEs more strongly than top-tier companies, but cancer will remain a growth market.
South Korea’s future looks bright thanks to government investment, but to score higher on maturity, it will need to complete the development and marketing of more drugs.
Conclusion
The APAC region is full of innovation, but with the exception of Japan, APAC countries are not yet spreading that innovation worldwide. However, there are many collaboration opportunities for Western and APAC companies to change that story and accelerate innovation.