Medtech World News: From JapanMedtech World News: From Japan

The Kansai Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry has announced that it will launch a portal to disseminate information about regional achievements in biotechnology and medical equipment. The local government delegated the task of creating the site to the Mitsubishi Chemical Techno-Research Corp. The bilingual English and Japanese site will promote the activities of Kansai-based companies, research institutes and universities that are involved in medical technology.

At a Cabinet meeting on Dec. 7, Japan’s government endorsed a plan to encourage the Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Agency to work diligently to eliminate the so-called “device lag” by the end of March 2014. The device lag—the glacial pace at which regulatory approvals are granted to device manufacturers—hinders innovation and prevents people in Japan from having access to advanced medical technology. I discussed this and other issues affecting Japan’s device industry in a recent interview with Kazuo Ogino, chairman of the Japan Federation of Medical Device Associations.