Patient access to medical devices—what about Japan, the second largest medical device market?

Patients’ access to innovative medical devices in Japan still shows the gap between the other countries. The cause of this device gap is researched from the prior published data. We searched the review time of new innovative devices by the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) and the submission time lag compared with the US and EU from the prior published data. The average review time was 9.5 months and the total time from PMDA to introduction of the device to patients in Japan is almost similar to the US and the four European countries. However, the time lag of the file submission between Japan and the US was 2.42 years, on average, between 2001 and 2009. The review time for new innovative medical devices by the PMDA has been improving year after year. On the contrary, the pre-submission delay still exists in Japan.