International Affairs Committee
Interview with Chairperson Murakami

The mission of the International Affairs Committee is to ensure that innovative pharmaceutical products born in Japan reach patients around the world. The committee aims to support Japanese pharmaceutical companies in their overseas business development, but at the same time, it also has at its core the perspective of "global health," which means contributing to healthcare around the world, including contributing to countries where access to medicines is not yet fully ensured, as well as countermeasures against infectious diseases.

While many of JPMA's activities tend to be domestically oriented, the International Affairs Committee looks outward and serves as a "hub" connecting Japan and the rest of the world. Specifically, the JPMA accurately ascertains the latest trends overseas and shares this information with the Pharmaceutical Industrial Policy Committee, Intellectual Property Committee, Regulatory Affairs Committee, and other specialized committees within the JPMA. At the same time, we also play a role in communicating messages that Japan wants to send out to the world and to other countries. Through this two-way communication, we are trying to further enhance the global presence of the Japanese pharmaceutical industry.

In our day-to-day activities, we vary our approach according to the market characteristics and issues in each region.

In Asia, each country has very different pharmaceutical regulations and healthcare financing situations, and it has not been easy to deliver medicines in the same way as in Japan. For this reason, the International Affairs Committee focuses on helping countries build the foundations of their healthcare systems. On the pharmaceutical side, the committee has long supported discussions between the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) and Asian countries. As a result, more countries are able to proceed with approval procedures using Japanese data, and the development and approval process is becoming much more efficient.

In terms of access, Japan has one of the most successful universal health insurance systems in the world. By sharing this know-how with governments and related organizations in Asian countries as an advanced case study, and by introducing examples of initiatives in other countries, we are helping to build a system that allows innovative drugs to reach Asian patients, even with limited healthcare finances.

Meanwhile, in Europe and the United States, the impact of each country's drug pricing policies on business has become a major issue. Excessive healthcare cost-containment measures can discourage pharmaceutical companies from investing, and consequently inhibit innovation and patient access. The International Affairs Committee hopes to work closely with local pharmaceutical organizations and diplomatic missions abroad to improve the business environment by submitting position papers and public comments to each country, and through further direct negotiations in the future.

The current issues of tariffs and MFN (Most Favored Nation Prices) in the U.S. are of great significance to the Japanese pharmaceutical industry. The International Affairs Committee has set up a special team in conjunction with the Pharmaceutical Industrial Policy Committee to study how to respond.

Based on the basic recognition that tariffs impede patients' access to medicines and risk threatening the stable supply of global medicines, the International Affairs Committee maintains the position that "tariffs on medicines should be zero.
MFN is also an uncertain situation, but it could have a significant impact. We are working closely with the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and other organizations to accurately understand local trends and industry intentions in order to find the most effective way forward.

We are also working on Global Health issues.
In the area of infectious disease countermeasures, we are actively working to create a sustainable business environment through information dissemination and advocacy activities at domestic and international infectious disease-related events.

We also provide support for countries with inadequate healthcare environments. This year, with the cooperation of the National Cancer Center, we again provided training to Vietnam's largest public hospital to create a manual for the dispensing of anticancer drugs and to develop a dispensing room. Through appropriate in-hospital logistics and exposure control measures, we are contributing to the improvement of the medical environment of the entire region as well as ensuring the safety of patients and medical personnel.

The International Affairs Committee is currently placing the greatest emphasis on "strengthening Japan's ability to communicate". We feel that despite our excellent drug discovery capabilities and activities contributing to global health, this information is not sufficiently communicated to the rest of the world. To overcome this, we established a new Multilateral Advocacy Group (MLA-G) directly under the Chairperson this past April.

The purpose is to communicate JPMA's views at international forums such as WHO and G7/G20. Although the group has only just been established, it will work with other committees to create and share position papers on a wide variety of topics, with the aim of more powerfully communicating JPMA's views.

The spirit of "Co-creation," which Chairman Miyabashira upholds, is deeply embedded in the activities of the International Affairs Committee.
Rather than having expertise of its own, the International Affairs Committee hopes to achieve stronger dissemination through collaboration with other committees with diverse expertise and cooperative relationships with various stakeholders outside of JPMA. This is expected to dramatically increase our "ability to communicate overseas," and we would like to strongly emphasize the importance of participation in the International Affairs Committee and collaboration to the JPMA as a whole.

As the Japanese pharmaceutical market continues to decrease its relative share in the world, it will become increasingly important for the pharmaceutical industry to expand its business globally in order to develop as a leading industry in Japan. The International Affairs Committee will support the international expansion of Japanese pharmaceutical companies through a series of activities. To achieve this, we will further enhance our presence in the global market and continue to develop our activities proactively while flexibly responding to the changing global situation.

The structure and activities of the International Affairs Committee are posted on the JPMA website. Please visit the site.

International Affairs Committee Website]
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