Entering the Japanese Medical Device Market

Originally Published September 1999

ADVERTISING, DISTRIBUTION, & SALES

Ames Gross

In the past decade, Japan's economy has experienced very slow growth or actual recession. Despite this, opportunities in Japan's medical device market—currently valued at $21 billion, the second largest in the world—have grown for foreign medical companies. This growth is a product of several factors, such as an increased desire to find cost-effective treatments to reduce burgeoning healthcare expenditures, a more favorable regulatory and registration environment for foreign medical companies, and a rapidly aging population whose healthcare needs are soaring.

One of the main changes spurring growth in the Japanese market is increased deregulation of the distribution sector. In the past, Japan's distribution system has been a tremendous obstacle to foreign companies.