Filling Japan's vaccine gap

The Japanese government has been trying since 2007 to increase availability of vaccines in the country, which lags the rest of the industrialized world. This month, two Japanese pharmas struck vaccine deals that could help fill this gap.

On March 2, GlaxoSmithKline plc and Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. announced a 50/50 JV called Japan Vaccine Co. Ltd. that will market the parent companies' prophylactic vaccines in Japan and conduct Phase III studies of new products...