Merger Regulations in the Japanese Pharmaceutical Industry

AbstractAlthough there have been no formal merger cases in Japan since 1973, the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) publishes around 10–13 unofficial cases each year. These usually include at least one case from the pharmaceutical industry. This chapter reviews cases where the JFTC seems to have conducted a characteristic analysis. For example, the JFTC usually delineates a product market starting with the ATC (Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification) Level 3 in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry and does not consider the so-called innovation market. It is true the JFTC cares about the disappearance of incentives for research and development (R&D). However, its concern is not just a decrease in R&D investment or channels, but an impact on competition in a specific market. I will then summarise general problems with JFTC merger regulation. Many of the published cases are standardised, and that the process of analysis and the basis of judgment are unclear. In response to such criticisms, in recent cases the JFTC uses an economic analysis and publishes its findings in more detail. However, there remain other problems such that the JFTC relies heavily on behavioural remedies rather than structural ones, even in horizontal mergers.KeywordsMerger regulationBusiness combinationsInnovation marketPharmaceutical distribution marketRemedies