The pharmaceutical industry is currently in the midst of dramatic changes with reduction of medical expenses, lowering of drug prices, 2010 crisis (all the patents of major drugs will expire), promotion of the spread of generic drugs, and so on. Each pharmaceutical company must set its own direction to survive. While pharmaceutical companies are classified increasingly more clearly, R-Tech Ueno aims at becoming a “global pharmaceutical company specializing in specific fields (ophthalmology and dermatology) and selling and developing pharmaceutical products through the eyes of doctors.”
On the basis of the achievements I have made at R-Tech Ueno as Medical Director, the experiences I have accumulated at the scenes of state-of-the-art medicine since my days as an associate professor at School of Medicine, Keio University, until now, and the results of numerous basic studies, I will work on pharmaceutical business as a top member of the company from the point of view of Medical Affairs, and will promptly cope with the rapid changes in the medical and social environments. In the sales of pharmaceutical products, we will place more efforts on marketing strategy, which other companies cannot imitate. In the development of pharmaceutical products, we will adopt a strategy to accurately reflect the needs of the medical scenes, to determine the priority of the products to be developed on the basis of positioning in comparison with competitors in the market, to comprehensively and rapidly identify the drugs which are truly demanded in the clinical settings, and to develop such products.
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Yukihiko Mashima President R-Tech Ueno, Ltd. |
▼ About Medical Affairs
Medical affairs activities use the experience of physicians who prescribe drugs. The purpose is to accurately reflect the needs of physicians concerning how to prescribe drugs for their patients in a company's drug development operations and marketing strategies. Recently, an increasing number of major European and U.S. pharmaceutical companies have established medical affairs units made up of physicians. Furthermore, in Japan, The Japanese Association of Pharmaceutical Medicine has been established by physicians who are employed by pharmaceutical companies. By conducting a variety of activities associated with the development of drugs, this association seeks to contribute to improvements in health care.
Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has announced a “New Pharmaceutical Industry Vision” in order to set forth a direction for the future of Japan's pharmaceutical industry. The vision includes five categories of pharmaceutical companies; R-Tech Ueno is aiming for a global niche company, with specialization in the fields of ophthalmology and dermatology. Although many fields of healthcare have had great improvements in satisfaction with treatments and the contribution of drugs in treating various disorders, there still remains a need for the development of drugs that are truly required for the treatment of patients unmet medical needs. Reaching this stage signifies that the development of drugs has advanced to the phase of prioritizing quality rather than quantity. R-Tech Ueno is dedicated to contributing to society by adopting a physician's viewpoint, as demonstrated by the appointment of Dr. Yukihiko Mashima, MD to the president, to develop and supply drugs for unmet medical needs and for the treatment of rare medical conditions. The development of so-called orphan drugs like the one we are developing for retinitis pigmentosa, currently at clinical trial phase 2, shows our commitment to enhancing patient's quality of life.
R-Tech Ueno is a drug discovery venture company with several highly promising pipelines. Bio venture companies are expected to play a central role in Japan in the creation of new technologies and the discovery of “seeds” that can become new drugs. To build a sound profit structure, R-Tech Ueno will use a business model that includes the establishment of alliances (licensing agreements and other forms of cooperation) with global mega-pharmaceutical companies to develop new drugs for clinical use.
In addition, R-Tech Ueno already has two well-established businesses. One is the manufacturing and selling of Rescula® Eye Drops 0.12%, an original product developed by R-Tech Ueno. The other business is contract support services for pharmaceutical development and contract manufacturing services. There is much growth potential for contract manufacturing services after the approval of new drugs that were licensed out from R-Tech Ueno.
These two businesses give R-Tech Ueno earnings and a sound financial position to operate as a drug discovery bio venture company.
