Japanese Officials Seek Israel Biotech Collaboration

According to Japanese diplomatic sources, the country's government is keen to explore opportunities in Israel's sophisticated biotech research and finance sector. A series of meetings held between Japanese and Israeli companies last week studied potential means for boosting mutual co-operation in R&D, including new joint nationality ventures in biotechnology and nanotechnology.

Without doubt, Japan's interest in Israel's burgeoning biotech sector is strategic. Although Japan is already Israel's largest Asian trading partner, with exports rising 32% last year to US$765mn, the Japanese government is currently making a concerted effort to close the gap in its biotech sector with other developed countries.

Japan's biotech sector is valued at some JPY1.6trn (US$15.29bn), but the government is concerned that a lack of specialist venture capital firms and an academic bias towards research in other high-tech sectors is causing it to lose competitiveness. Nevertheless, it is hoped that recently-introduced regulation to ease the transfer of intellectual property from universities to commercial interests, as well as last year's announcement of a new JPY500bn (US$4.78bn) government funding stream for biotech research, will strengthen the hand of Japanese firms attempting to obtain valuable technology both overseas and in the domestic market.