A Japanese government panel on Wednesday detailed its plans to strengthen the drug discovery process and deliver the latest medicine to the public, as well as efforts to build a system with a sustainable cycle of investment and innovation.

Japan has a rich history of having discovered various drugs that are used around the world to this day. However, with the recent global transition to biopharmacy and regenerative cell medicine, as well as drug development that utilizes artificial intelligence and pharmacogenomics, the country has been falling behind.

The country has also been facing delays in getting certain new medicines — especially those that deal with rare diseases or are to be administered to children — to patients that need them.

In an effort to revitalize the industry, the government has been working on a proposal that details specific measures that need to be taken in order to meet patients expectations and deliver the necessary medicine to all patients in need of treatment.

“We believe that this proposal is a necessary one, as it aims to establish Japan as a world-class drug discovery country,” said Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hideki Murai. “The secondary point of this proposal is also to establish a path for top-level drug discovery that can contribute to the health of people around the world.”

Strengthening Japan’s ability to discover new drugs — which has been slower than other countries such as the United States — is a key focus of the interim proposal, and it envisages improving this by addressing the lack of startups in the country.

In recent years, startups have played a vital role in the discovery of new drugs. However, Japan lacks the environment — such as incubator programs — to support the work of domestic startups. Moreover, academic research is rarely transferred to practical applications, thus hindering the creation of new medicines.

The plan is to bring in resources and staff from major pharmaceutical companies and venture capital firms from overseas so that domestic players can learn from them. Through this strategy, Japan hopes to bring in “accelerators” — individuals capable of speeding up the process by which research is connected to product development— and with their support nurture “star scientists” that can become the core of Japan’s pharmaceutical industry.

“Under this strategic goal, we will establish a public-private council as a way to attract funds and human resources from foreign companies, as well as to actively communicate our strategy to the world,” Murai added. “A preparatory meeting will be held in August, and foreign companies will be invited to participate as well."

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with Stephen J. Ubl, the president of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, on Wednesday.