Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) Senior Manager Mr. Shunichiro Kurita contributed an article titled “Bring Patients’ Voices Into Drug Development” to the Personal Opinion and Insight column of the Nikkei Morning Edition published on October 27, 2026.

Noting that the Government of Japan has positioned the pharmaceutical industry as both a growth industry and a key industry, the article argues that patient and public involvement (PPI) in research and development is the key to making that growth genuine. As the international environment surrounding the pharmaceutical industry grows increasingly uncertain, with factors such as the U.S. most-favored-nation (MFN) drug pricing policy and concerns over drug lag, Japan’s enduring strength lies in innovation that truly changes patients’ lives and is competitive worldwide. PPI is significant in three ways: it allows the experiential knowledge of people with lived experience to be reflected in the outcome measures used to evaluate medicines; it is expected to help recruit participants for clinical trials and reduce dropout; and it fosters public understanding of and trust in research and development through ongoing dialogue. To make PPI effective, the article calls for creating opportunities for a wide range of individuals, including those not affiliated with patient organizations, to participate without undue burden, with appropriate compensation and coverage of their expenses, as well as providing researchers with opportunities to learn and practice PPI. It further calls for these foundations to be sustained jointly by the government and neutral non-profit organizations rather than left to individual research teams, and for a promotion system that spans ministries and agencies to extend PPI beyond drug discovery to science, technology, and innovation policy as a whole.

To view the full article, please click here. (Please note that visitors must register for a Nikkei Inc. account.)
*Available only in Japanese

HGPI also released policy recommendations titled “Expectations for a System That Spans Diseases, Ministries, and Agencies for the Effective Promotion of Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in Research and Development” on June 30, 2026. Please see them here as well.