title: The generic drug market in Japan: will it finally take off?
abstract: Historically, brand-name pharmaceuticals have enjoyed long periods of market exclusivity in Japan, given the limited use of generics after patent expiration. To improve the efficiency of the health-care system, however, the government has recently implemented various policies aimed at increasing generic substitution. Although this has created expectations that the Japanese generic drug market may finally take off, to date, generic usage has increased only modestly. After reviewing the incentives of key market participants to choose generics, we argue that previous government policies did not provide proper incentives for pharmacies to boost generic substitution. We offer some recommendations that may help to increase generic usage.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. toshi.iizuka@gmail.com
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iizuka
authors.forename: Kensuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kubo
mesh_terms: D057915:Drug Substitution / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016568:Drugs, Generic / Q000191:economics*; D006291:Health Policy / Q000191:economics* / Q000639:trends; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D007349:Insurance, Health, Reimbursement; D007564:Japan; D009042:Motivation; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D055553:Prescription Drugs / Q000191:economics*
chemical_list: D016568:Drugs, Generic; D055553:Prescription Drugs