Healthcare

October 2002

The government plans to boost annual research funding for biotechnology fivefold to some 2 trillion yen by fiscal 2006. The move is aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of the sector, which lags behind that of other countries. The government wants to develop it into a major industry comparable to autos and information technology. The government also intends to prioritize the training of experts and ease regulations to improve the competitive edge of Japanese companies in the field. Plans call for establishing a domestic biotechnology market worth 25 trillion yen by 2010 and creating some 1 million new jobs. The Biotechnology Strategy Council headed by Prime Minister Koizumi is due to finalize its plan on Oct. 18. Currently, the government spends about 440 billion yen on biotechnology R&D each year, less than one-seventh the budget in the U.S. Therefore, Tokyo intends to raise spending by about 50% annually over the next four years, pushing up the sum to half the amount spent by the U.S. The increased budget will mainly fund efforts to analyze genes and proteins, create databases of findings obtained through genetic research and train specialists, among others. A particular emphasis will be placed on projects to commercialize the results of basic research. Japan excels in basic research, as has been demonstrated by the seminal work by this year's Nobel laureate Koichi Tanaka in the field of protein analysis. North American and European nations are ahead of Japan in bringing the fruits of basic research to market. The government, therefore, aims to offer strong backing to the nation's biotechnology industry. The biotechnology market would expand rapidly, due to the growing incidence of lifestyle-related illnesses such as cancer and high blood pressure. The industry has the potential to create more than 1 million jobs by 2010, according to the Biotechnology Strategy Council. (October 14, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun)