Prime Minister Takaichi’s Remarks at Council on Enhancing Drug Discovery

On July 10, 2026, Prime Minister Takaichi attended the Public-Private Council for Enhancing Drug Discovery Capabilities at the Prime Minister’s Official Residence. The meeting discussed initiatives contributing to the drug-discovery ecosystem and future approaches to enhancing drug discovery capabilities.

The Prime Minister said that she recognizes the pharmaceutical industry as a growth field that contributes to economic growth, a core industry that creates domestic employment, and an extremely vital industry for economic security.

It was stated that Japan’s drug discovery capabilities must be enhanced to resolve challenges such as drug lag and drug loss and deliver medicines needed by patients, and that the public-private council plays an important role.

The Prime Minister said that innovative medicines would be delivered quickly to the public and patients, protecting the lives and health of patients in Japan and around the world through innovative medicines originating in Japan.

A policy was presented to boldly and steadily evolve Japan’s pharmaceutical market into a more “attractive market” and seek greater investment in Japan than ever before.

The council addressed drug discovery and research and development leveraging Japan’s research capabilities, global expansion, cooperation with various players around the world, human-resource development, and strategic and proactive domestic investment in research and development and manufacturing facilities.

Domestic companies announced growth investments on the scale of several trillion yen, while global foreign companies expressed their intention to continue investing in Japan, make additional investments, support Japan’s drug-discovery seeds, and strengthen partnerships.

Going forward, the government will advance startup support, human-resource development, strengthening research and development capabilities, AI utilization, and the doubling of international joint clinical trials, aiming to grow Japan’s patented-medicine market to a level comparable with global growth.

The next fiscal year’s drug-price revision will be implemented from the perspective of drug-discovery innovation, further evaluating innovation in innovative new drugs, including appropriate evaluation when breakthrough medicines are first listed and the appropriate approach to drug prices during the patent period. Regarding the United States’ MFN pricing policy, it was stated that Japan would respond reliably so that innovative medicines could be delivered quickly.

The Takaichi Cabinet will formulate the Japan Growth Strategy shortly and position drug discovery as one of its strategic fields. She stated her intention to establish a new forum for public-private discussions under the council for concrete discussions and consideration based on that strategy.

The challenges presented at the council included further development of infrastructure for drug discovery, securing growth for Japan’s patented-medicine market, and appropriate innovation evaluation for innovative medicines.