Press Release

Bridgehead International Ltd announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Jouhou Koukai Services LLC, of Tokyo, Japan, to provide certain joint services to clients in the pharmaceutical, medical device and diagnostics sectors.

Bridgehead and Jouhou Koukai Services have brought together a highly experienced team to provide a comprehensive resource to support clients in their Japanese and Korean market access strategy, covering:

• Pricing policy analysis and interpretation
• Competitor pricing analysis
• Pricing strategy for new products
• Reimbursement policy analysis and interpretation
• Reimbursement strategy consulting
• Reimbursement campaign design and management
• Regulatory strategy.

In addition, the team is able to assist clients in all aspects of market analysis, market entry and partnering.

Timothy Fitzgerald, CEO of Bridgehead International said, ‘We are delighted to confirm Jouhou Koukai Services as a partner for Japan and Korea. Bridgehead team members, who have lived and worked in the region, provide the critical understanding and language skills necessary to access the key stakeholders in these important markets. However, it is equally important to have the right partners on the ground...’

Dr. Valentin B. Dimov, CEO & Principal Consultant of Jouhou Koukai Services said, ‘Due to the recent deregulation steps taken by the Japanese authorities, the Japanese life sciences and healthcare market as the world’s second largest has become much friendlier for foreign companies planning a market entry. Yet navigating the approval and registration process, forging with pricing decisions, understanding the insurance and reimbursement, and pursuing market positioning still require support and guidance from regulatory and market access specialists...’

To learn more about Bridgehead’s services in Japan and Korea contact Timothy Fitzgerald, CEO, on +44 1664 503 700 or via email to timothy.fitzgerald@bridgehead.com


About Bridgehead International Ltd

Bridgehead International (www.bridgehead.com) is a leading biopharmaceutical consultancy group, offering a range of services designed to assist clients in achieving extraordinary growth across the product and technology value chain. Our mission is to work with commercial organisations, government agencies and the investment community to ensure that:

• Life science organisations have the funding, structure and strategic focus to deliver high levels of innovation and financial return
• Patients have rapid and broad access to new innovative medicines, medical devices and diagnostic tools, particularly in areas of high unmet need.

With over 40 consultants and 60 associates in Europe, North America and Asia, Bridgehead provides a powerful combination of strategic, scientific, medical, technical, commercial, economic, decision support, modelling and intellectual property skills and experience. Bridgehead is globally recognised for its expertise in:

• Market access
• Pricing and reimbursement strategy
• Health economics and health technology assessment
• Technical and commercial evaluation
• Due diligence and Experts’ Reports
• Forecasting and valuation.

In 2007, Bridgehead was honoured with The Queen’s Award for Enterprise, in the International Trade section, for outstanding achievement in international trade. The Queen’s Award for Enterprise is the highest honour that can be bestowed upon a UK company and is the UK’s top award for business performance.

In 2009, Bridgehead was voted UK Strategic Advisor of the Year – Healthcare, in the ACQ Finance Magazine’s Global Awards.

About Jouhou Koukai Services LLC

Jouhou Koukai Services LLC (www.jouhoukoukai.com) was founded in 2001 as a consultancy, specializing in regulatory definition and scientific and market assessments for all regulated medicinal products in Japan. It then established itself as a vendor of high-end information products (on-line databases, regulatory documentation, subscription series, industry news, e-CDT technical specifications) exclusively focused on Japanese pharmaceutical and medical device markets. In the last three years the company expanded rapidly into market intelligence and research, and into providing customized solutions in the field of pricing & reimbursement, price cuts, price premiums and other crucial market access issues. The company has an in-depth understanding of the Four "P" - Pharma, Provider, Patient, Payer and their roles, influence and prospects in the Japanese pharmaceutical, medical device and healthcare markets. It has an extensive network of Government level decision makers, payers’ executives and key opinion leaders in both medicine and health economics and policy, and is able to carry out primary market assessment at the highest levels.

Jouhou Koukai Services also produces a range of publications on the Japanese market, as follows:

• Japanese Approvals Database (JAD): The current edition contains 18,000 entries, representing all products with new active ingredients approved from January 1999 to date
• JAD Drug Price List: This provides hard-to-find data concerning market launch, prices and reimbursable formulations of all drugs currently marketed in Japan
• Strategy to overcome reimbursement hurdles: Analysis and advice on the progress in getting a currently marketed product onto formularies.
  

For more information:
http://www.bridgehead.com

Last updated on: 02/12/2010 12:30:59