They Do Well Who Do Good

Insights into Japan's Pharmaceutical Industry

They Do Well Who Do Good is a collection of articles written from 2000 to 2010 that document the changes in the Japan health care system and pharma industry. Changes considered impossible in the past became routine. As the decade ended, optimists and game changers leave the pessimists and status quo keepers behind. An attractive health care system evolved to care for an aging population with chronic diseases versus a young population with acute diseases. Japan wants the best health care the world has to offer, but choices must be made because resources to pay the bill are limited. In the beginning of the decade, you could compare Japanese pharma companies to a convoy of ships. Some big, some small, some fast, some slow, but all moved together. Ten years later, the convoy analogy was no longer useful. Some went abroad, others stayed home. Some divested noncore businesses; others did not. Some merged; others choose to go alone. Some changed their business models and cultures. Other rejected change and held on to their past. They Do Well Who Do Good is an insiders perspective on what it takes to succeed in Japans pharma market.